


Chronicles: Evangellium Puellae Magae

by BG_Character_592



Series: Chronicles [3]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Gen, Giant Robots, MST3k-Style Riffing, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 01:48:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 35,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16903812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BG_Character_592/pseuds/BG_Character_592
Summary: Kensuke and his partners Sayaka and Kyoko recently finished watching some mysterious DVDs he found a while ago, starring both his partners and their friends from Tokyo-2 as well. Whatever they were, the Evangelion pilots could tell it got them down.So, what do they do, when they see their friends downtrodden due to a show starring themselves? Watch that show as well!





	1. EPM 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Advice and Trust](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/438735) by Strypgia. 
  * Inspired by [Advice and Trust](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/438738) by Panther2G. 



> This is the third instalment of Chronicles, a continuation of Strypgia's Advice and Trust, published here with his consent, originally posted on Sufficient Velocity. It is recommended one reads Advice and Trust first, as many of the characterisations and events differ from what is considered canon to Evangelion.
> 
> While this story is a continuation of Advice and Trust, it's not set in its exact universe. This story diverges from Advice and Trust starting from Chapter 11.12 (on Sufficient Velocity).
> 
> This is a direct sequel to The Blu-Ray Chronicles: Rebuild.
> 
> As usual for Chronicles, this story is rated Mature for sexual references, occasional violence and confronting scenes.
> 
>    
> Note: The K/S/K shipping was established in Advice and Trust.

* * *

 

Usually an early day  _wouldn't_  be on the table for the pilots, unless they had NERV business.  
  
But with how close the holidays were (and with the tendency people had to leave important things, like getting their special someone a gift, to the last minute), they thought it wise to do all their shopping on a Thursday.  
  
Evidently, Ritsuko  _had_  taken the damage of the screen out of Asuka's account, so for once she had to be somewhat frugal when it came to her shopping. Or, at least frugal with  _her_  money. Partners can be  _so_  great sometimes.  
  
Though, for what it was worth, she did buy Shinji's gift herself.  
  
They were taking a break, enjoying a somewhat late breakfast in the food court, bags in tow, when they noticed a certain group, presumably with the same intention as them.  
  
"Oi, Ken!" Shinji flagged the trio down, waving in their general direction.  
  
He noticed, and they immediately made a beeline for them. "Hey guys."  
  
Rei took a gander at the three of them. "What burdens you, Kensuke, Miki and Sakura?"  
  
Puellae eyes went wide at how easy Rei plucked their feelings. Kensuke simply chuckled. "That obvious eh?" He pulled up a chair and sat down at their table, putting down his bags. His partners followed suit. "You guys remember the discs we found?"  
  
Nods between the four pilots.  
  
"Lemme guess." Asuka deadpanned. "You found a way to view them and discovered they were cans of immense trauma."  
  
"Y-yes, actually." He seemed perplexed.  
  
"How on Earth did you know that?" Kyoko asked, as perplexed at how nonchalant she was.  
  
To a shrug. "Been there, done that."  
  
"That's happened to  _you_  guys as well?"  
  
Nods.  
  
"Twice actually." Kaworu added on. "Shinji found material containing us as characters, Laserdiscs in a trash bag. He collected them, and we watched through our lives."  
  
"At least we  _thought_  they were our lives." Rei stated, a hint of scorn coming through. "Somehow  _these two_  not getting together led to our demise." She pointed to Shinji and Asuka.  
  
"... _how_?"  
  
"Beats me." Shinji shrugged. "That was a similar story in a  _second_  set of material Ibuki found. Except they were on a weird sort of disc, alien to this world."  
  
A curious noise came from Kensuke. "And we didn't know about this material potentially involving us  _why_?"  
  
Shinji shrugged. "It focused more on us, and on more classified materials. Honestly, you weren't even in them after a point." He pointed to the other girls. "And you two weren't in them  _at all_."  
  
"Count yourself lucky you weren't fucked over, like we were." Asuka deadpanned.  
  
Kyoko pursed her lips.  
  
"...you  _were_  fucked over." Asuka's head went for her hand. "Should I ask  _how_?"  
  
Collective thinking from the trio. "Honestly it's kinda hard to explain. The show is a bit of a mind melter." The other blue explained.  
  
"We live in a mindfuck, Blue." Asuka deadpanned. "We pilot giant mindfucks and fight giant mindfucks. We can handle it."  
  
"Honestly, it'll probably be easier if we just show you." Kyoko said, flippant.  
~~~

  
  
Kaji looked out the window, the serenity of the Earth visible. Ahh, space travel was so easy when you didn't have to carry an Evangelion on your back.  
  
Shame the stars weren't visible. But oh well, he had the company of his private security. And his briefcase.  
  
All the documents a desperate father could want, in the fight against SEELE and against corruption.  
  
But the red planet was millions of miles away. Who knows what on Earth was going on there.  
  
He looked out the porthole, out into space.  
~~~

  
  
A hymn of the faithful filled a hall.  
  
There stood one, but the voice was legion.  
  
A prophecy.  
  
The words were firmly planted into her mind, a language few truly understood.  
  
She could say the words, but she did not yet understand them.  
  
She will eventually come to know the meaning of the words that escaped her.  
  
For now, she would sing with the choir.  
  
_Samia dostia  
  
Ari aditia  
  
Tori adito Madora_  
~~~

  
  
Ritsuko and Maya were  _still_  sweeping up glass from Asuka's little stunt. At least she heard from Misato that she admonished her. Eventually.  
  
The TV was still there, actually. Embedded in the floor, the crane having folded in on itself during its attempt to lift it.  
  
So for now, it served as an eternal monument to Asuka's rage.  
  
Meanwhile, the Sempai and Kohai, deciding that Unit-01 won't be going anywhere (hopefully), were working on other miscellaneous tasks. Specifically, brainstorming ideas that stemmed from the theatrical timeline (a name they settled on after a few minutes of confusion as to what to call it).  
  
"So we've already ruled out implementing a dual plug with traditional designs, which counts out retrofitting the Old-Type Evangelion."  
  
"Have we ruled out New-Type?"  
  
Shaking of the head. "New-Type  _could_  work." Writing on the whiteboard. "I think a dual plug design would have to square the effectiveness in order to be worth its while."  
  
"Oh for sure." Diagrams were being drawn, two brains and a pictograph of an Evangelion. "Synchronising would have to be modified as well. We could apply a drifting system, as you suggested, to sync both pilots  _and_  Eva."  
  
"Issue with synchronising  _pilots_  in addition to the Eva, is they need to be compatible." Notes were being added and scratched as they went. This sort of brainstorming was immensely enjoyable for them,  _almost_  on par with sex. Just being able to come up with "new" ideas and that, it was damn satisfying. "They'd have to have some common ground, like a shared memory or something. This only really leaves siblings and partners, and the problem with the latter is that love is a fickle thing."  
  
"So overall, it seems less intuitive than our current, single plug system."  
  
"Yes." Spoke Dr Deadpan. "It would be  _cheaper_ , I suppose, doubling up pilots. But overall it seems more unwieldy compared to traditional designs."  
  
"So we did this all for nothing."  
  
"Oh Maya, it's the  _journey_  that matters!" A few laughs escaped her. "Plus, other NERV installations might find this useful."  
  
A button was clicked, and a large implement slowly (and  _loudly)_  scanned the whiteboard. "There's other things Theatrical had, we could theorise about too."  
  
Maya thought. "Cheap colour flatscreen?"  
  
"...We could look into that. I'm sure the consumer wouldn't mind finally being able to move on from the electron box. Especially since we got the poor folks at R&D trying to reverse engineer those discs you found."  
  
The board was wiped. "Liquid Crystal is still a pain in the ass though." Ritsuko chewed the marker like a cigarette.  
  
Thinking.  
  
"...what if we use diodes?"  
~~~

  
  
After a bit more shopping, and once they put the slew of items away, the pilots made their way to the Aida residence.  
  
"Come to experience the trauma?"  
  
"That might as well be the selling point of these materials."  
  
The pilots reacted to Rei's deadpan with a burst of laughter.  
  
The trio weren't as amused. "I assume you three are used to it." Kyoko deadpanned.  
  
Kensuke let them in, and showed them to his room.  
  
"Damn Aida, I knew you were a geek." Asuka commented, whether in awe or in concern was known only to herself.  
  
He shrugged, as they looked around, noticing the various military memorabilia and oddball computer and other electronic hardware scattered around his room. The naval ensign was proudly hung on the wall, but Asuka assumed it was due to his affinity for the JMSDF,  _not_  any imperialist tendencies. So, she could stop herself from punching his lights out.  
  
"Fills the room out, doesn't it Asuka?" Kyoko prodded.  
  
"It's much more... diverse than our bedroom, gotta say." Shinji was poking around, particularly drawn to the ship diorama.  
  
"Not like we use it for much." Asuka commented, also poking and prodding.  
  
"I say it makes it more homely." Sayaka said. "Though maybe I'm just used to it."  
  
Kensuke shrugged it off. "It  _could_  use a bit of cleaning, but I don't think it’s too bad knick."  
  
Rei curiously inspected a model Gundam, showing an equally curious fish. "RX-78-2."  
  
"So where do you play those discs?"  
  
Kensuke banged the top of an aquamarine, oddly shaped box, that took up a sizeable portion of the desk it sat upon. "This bad boy right here."  
  
The pilots just looked oddly at the behemoth. "Is that a computer?"  
  
"Yeah, Soryu." Kensuke was proud." Pretty neat, isn't it?"  
  
"...doesn't look like  _any_  computer I've seen."  
  
"He found it in a skip, and rebuilt it himself." Sayaka smiled at Ken's pride. "Apparently its better than most other computers a person could get their hands on."  
  
"You guys have terminals right?"  
  
Nods.  
  
"How much memory do they have?"  
  
"Why would I know that, Aida?" Was Asuka's simple response.  
  
"128 megabytes." Kaworu answered for everyone.  
  
"Over 4000 megabytes in this!"  
  
Crickets.  
  
Kensuke deflated. "You guys don't seem to be too interested in that."  
  
Shrugging. "We work for NERV. We have the Magi, which I don't even know if you  _could_  say how much memory they have, being biocomputers and all."  
  
"And it’s not like we're the traditional  _consumer_." Shinji deadpanned.  
  
"Heh, fair enough." He rubbed the back of his head. "So, wanna watch what we just went through?"  
  
"On what?"  
  
Kyoko pointed to a small monitor. "That.  _We_  managed it."

* * *

 

#  Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Disc 1

 

 **Character Key** :  
Shinji (Sh) Asuka (A)  
Rei (R) Kaworu (Ka)  
Kensuke (Ke) Sayaka (Sa) Kyoko (Ky)

 

##  As If We Met In A Dream…

 _Prologue in Heaven_  
A: "So we're don't even have a  _suggestion_  this show will stay within the real world."  
Ky: "God knows how bad  _your_  show was then, cuz  _this_  was pretty wacky."  
R: "Much like our show, I imagine this show was equally traumatising."  
Ke: "You think? We're damn lucky this only had 12 episodes."  
Ka: "We had 26 and a movie."  
A: "Though half of it was in freeze frame since the studio didn't have any money, it seemed."  
Sa: "I think  _this_  studio at least had  _some_  money."  
A girl ran through the Lelielian setting.  
Sh: "Do you know her?"  
Kyoko nodded. "She's a friend of ours, back when we were living in Tokyo-2." A smile. "Never dyed her hair pink though."  
Sh: "Well, that's gonna be a problem if these people go through similar trauma  _we_ did."  
Sa: "It  _was_."

  
  
_Exit_  
R: "We don't even know where we are, do we?"  
Ka: "The architecture looks alien. An Angel maybe?"  
Ke: "Actually, the way this world works looks different than  _our_  world."  
Rei thought. "Do you know anything about metaphysical biology?"  
Shaking of the head.  
Ka: "Much like going from traditional to quantum physics, ones understanding of the world breaks down when you picture it through the lens of such a thing."  
Sa: "You two know about that?"  
R: "We're quite knowledgeable about it."  
Ka: "You could say it's in our blood."  
Snickers between the pilots.  
A: "Even though we probably  _shouldn't_  talk much about it, considering it's probably  _classified_."

  
  
_Walpurgisnacht_  
A: "What the hell is that?"  
Ke: "The show call them Witches, but if you wanted to compared it to our world."  
Ka: "Angels then. Though we should consider the mechanisms will be different."  
Ky: "These Witches are more 'not in this world'y compared to the Angels."  
A shrug from Shinji. "We've had a few like that."  
R: "Whatever that is, it's wreaking havoc on the city."  
A: "I suppose they don't have any Evangelion or other giant mecha to help."  
Sa: "This isn't a mecha show. It's a mahou shoujou."  
A: "So flinging teenage girls at the problem until its solved." Her flat tone emphasised the apparent stupidity of it all.  
Sh: "That's  _similar_  to our world I suppose, only  _we_  had giant mechs instead of magic."  
A: "And  _you're_  not a girl, are ya Shinji?"  
Kensuke folded his arms, muttering. "...It's always the  _girls_  that get these magic powers."

  
  
_QB_  
Kensuke, Sayaka and Kyoko all glared at the screen when they saw a weird looking cat animal.  
Ka: "What a weird looking cat."  
R: "I doubt it’s a proper species. Might even be alien."  
Ke: "Don't worry, you'll all come to hate it."  
A: "It looks  _cute_  though! How on Earth could we hate it?"  
Ky: "Just you wait."  
Sh: "...obviously it has something to do with their powers."  
A: "Why would it just give away powers like that though?"  
Ka: "Obviously it's expecting something in return. Hence the 'contract'."  
Laughter between the trio. "You don't know the half of it."

  
  
_Destati_  
A: "Oh. It was a  _dream_." She glared. "Well, a nightmare, I suppose."  
R: "I imagine it will be prophetic in one form or another."  
A: " _We_  never really had any prophetic dreams though, don't we?"  
Ka: "Prophecies aren't exactly uncommon in our world. They're usually on parchment though."  
Ke: "More secret business?"  
A: "I imagine  _you_  already know a few things about NERV, Aida."  
R: "Considering your father is good at leaving his terminal unattended." A smirk.  
He started sweating. "Y-you  _know_  that?"

  
  
His stressing was interrupted by the OP.  
A: "I have a feeling pinkie's gonna be the main character."  
Sa: "The focus on her in the  _opening_  didn't give you enough clue?"  
Ka: "I would've thought one of you two would've been focused on."  
Ky: "Oh it gets better, Nagisa."  
~

  
  
_Slice of Life_  
Sh: "Oh  _wow_ , she has an actual _family_!"  
A: "One that really  _cares_  for her as well!"  
Ky: "Damn guys, just what _hell_ have ya  _been_  through?"  
A: "We have a show about it, you should watch sometime." She  _dripped_  sarcasm. "And just how  _big_  is their house?"  
Ka: "It's like a mansion."  
A: "It's like my German house. Except more abstract."  
Sa: "She did have a nice house, quite rare for nowadays. Even though it didn't look like that."  
Ke: "It always surprises me just how much make up girls have."  
Sh: "Asuka never has  _that_  much though."  
A: "Then again, I don't really give too many shits about that. I like how I look and so does Shinji, and that's all I need."  
R: "Madoka's mother has a point though."  
A: "Oh yeah, society can be a bitch like that."  
Sa: "Tell us about it." She intoned, flat.

  
  
_Breakfast_  
A: "Her family life looks far too stable."  
R: "I imagine that will all come tumbling down sometime this series."  
Ke: "I'd say you were cynical."  
Sh: "At the very least, she would have a  _taste_  of something resembling a stable and loving family. We kinda had to make our own."  
Ka: "That didn't end up too badly though, did it?"  
Ky: "Even just  _lookin_  at you lot, I can tell you're all close. Might as well give us the wedding invites now."  
They all chuckled amongst themselves.  
A: "We haven't made invitations yet."  
Ky: "...wait, you're  _serious_?"

  
  
_School Days_  
Asuka dodged the question. "Of  _course_  she runs with a piece of toast."  
R: "Not even  _I_  was immune to that trope, you realise."  
Sa: "You know, it was really odd to see me depicted in this show. Especially since it's  _my_  voice."  
Sh: "Join the club. You get used to it." He was flippant. "Not really. Especially when it seems the director was out to get you."  
R: "I always wondered how you were able to get away with having dyed hair at school."  
Sa: "I may have used you as an example of naturally occurring blue hair, and they allowed me. Oh yeah, thanks for that Ayanami!"  
Rei had a confused look. "You're welcome?"  
A: "The other girl a friend too?"  
Nodding from Sayaka. "Hitomi. We  _did_  have a falling out one time over a boy, but we made up before I left for Tokyo-3."  
A chuckle from Asuka. "I imagine it was Sakura who helped you with that?"  
A smile in reply. "In more ways than one."  
~

  
  
_Sunny Side Up_  
Sh: "...what the hell is  _that_  building?"  
A shrug from one of the puella in reply.  
R: "Artistic license. A building like that would be impractical in real life."  
A: "Find a rich person with money to burn, and they can build some pretty stupid things."  
Sh: "I must say though, this teacher is much more interesting than the one  _we_  got stuck with."  
Ky: "You'd be surprised to hear that this is pretty much what she did, eh Sayaka?"  
She snorted. "Sunny side was her, what, 6th? 7th? Of that year?"  
Ky: "Might've had more since we left, I gotta ask Madoka about that next time I call."  
Ke: "Not all of us are lucky to find someone as easily as  _we_  did."

  
  
_Akemi_  
A: "What about her?"  
Sa: "Yep, Homura's one of our friends as well." She became wistful. "Though... she was never like that."  
Ky: "...man, if she knew what she went through in this show, she wouldn't let go of Madoka for a _month_."  
Sh: "They're an item too?"  
Sa: "Kinda like us, yeah."  
Sh: "...I'm guessing something pretty bad happens to Akemi in this show then."  
Ke: "... _happened_."  
Kaworu looked on at Homura with curiosity. "...there's something... odd. About her."  
R: "Kaworu?"  
Ka: "...I think the term is déjà vu?"  
Ky: "You  _recognise_  her?"  
Ka: "...yes? It's odd though... because I know for a fact we've never met in this world."  
_'echo.'  
'timeline?'  
'like I?'_  
Sa: "Maybe you met her in a previous life."  
Kyoko snorted. "You know that sorta stuff is impossible."  
Ke: "Considering we live in a world where Eva and Angels exist, we can never be too sure."  
The Nephilim continued their mental conversation, eventually coming to the conclusion to discuss at a later time.  
~

  
  
_Enigma_  
A: "Akemi seems to know a lot more than she lets on."  
Sh: "If they're people in our world, then this might be accurate."  
A: "In some aspects."  
Ky: "I guess your show didn't diverge as much as  _this_  did?"  
A: "Not for a good while, right up until we got complacent." She glared. "Then the director completely shat on us."  
Sa: "That bad, huh." She was flat.  
Ka: "I assume it will be the same for you then."  
Ke: "Just you wait. A lot of this sounds weird  _now_ , but they don't really explain a lot until later."  
R: "It's better than  _our_  show. They never really explained  _anything_."

  
  
_Weltstadt_  
Sh: "Well that boggles the mind."  
Asuka shrugged. "Seems easy enough. Find the solution to the quadratic, then divide it by 14."  
Sh: "You had to hold my hand through quadratics." He deadpanned.  
Ka: "She appears even more mysterious."  
R: "I'm sure the music doesn't help. Though it's quite nice."  
Ky: "The music in this show was actually pretty great."  
A: "Wait a minute, that's the damn  _Weltstadthaus_!"  
Ka: "...indeed, what is that doing in Japan?"  
Ke: "Where's it usually?"  
A: "Germany."  
Ke: "...what  _is_  it doing here then?"

  
  
_Nutcase_  
Sa: "Homura's not like this in our world, you should know."  
Ky: "She's much more quiet, and timid. At least when she's not around friends. Or Madoka."  
A chuckle. "She completely changes around her. It's pretty obvious."  
A: "Much like you two?"  
Ky: " _We_  can be  _subtle_  about it. Though it helps Madoka she has more... understanding folks."  
Asuka cringed. "No wonder you want to keep hush hush about it."  
Sa: "At least until we're older."  
Ka: "...Maybe Hitomi is correct. About Akemi."

  
  
_Pursuit_  
A: "Who's chasing the ferret?"  
Ky: "Once you realise what it's done, you'd want to chase it down and rip it to shreds."  
Sh: "...Akemi's a magical girl?"  
R: "Sure looks like it." She thought. "Maybe the concept of a magical girl could use similar concepts to our world."  
Ka: "It's possible they're Nephilim."  
Ke: "...that a NERV thing?"  
Nodding. "It's quite a bit classified however, so I recommend  _not talking about it to the civilians, Nagisa_." Rei glared, to raised hands and an apologetic fish.  
Ke: "We can always pretend to  _not_  hear it."  
A: "You do know NERV probably bugs this house? Considering your track record."  
Kensuke pulled out a phone sized device from his desk. "Not in this room, at least."  
Asuka's eyes changed focus between the device and Kensuke, several times. "...y'know, most people would say your paranoid, but considering it's  _NERV_."  
He shrugged, haphazardly tossing it on a shelf. "Knowing NERV, they probably know I know they bug this house. So they probably spy on me in another way, but I know that."  
Sh: "And yet you didn't know they automatically monitor the phone lines."  
Ke: "Ah, but its empirical testing like _that_ that allows me to know."

  
  
_Rescue_  
A: "I assume Akemi has a good reason to  _want_  to murder that ferret."  
Ke: "You'll want to murder it in short time as well, don't worry about that."  
A: "Yes Aida, Sakura made that point already."  
Sh: "It can't be  _that_ -"  
The scenery went weird.  
A: "Okay, what the hell is that?"  
Ka: "Abstract situation, not knowing what the hell is going on? It's an Angel. Well, a  _Witch_  in this show."  
R: "What  _is_  a Witch anyway?"  
Ke: "Patience, young Padawan’s. All will be explained in time."  
Asuka groaned. "We can wait. We'll be waiting forever for an explanation for  _our_  show."  
Sa: "Do any of you know what those runes are? We noticed them popping up in this show but none of us recognised it."  
Kaworu inspected. "I don't recognise the characters. It could be anything from a simple cipher to a full blown language, but we don't have anything to translate it with."  
A: "So let’s just assume it’s there to emphasise how fucked up this whole thing is."

  
  
_Tomoe_  
Sh: "She also-"  
Sa: "...Yeah. Mami Tomoe. We didn't know her  _that_  well, she was senior to us. But we were still friends."  
Ky: "...last we heard, she was involved in an accident of some kind."  
Asuka became sensitive to this. "...was she...?"  
Sa: "...we don't know. Madoka would know more about it, they were a bit closer. But... she doesn't talk much about it. At least over the phone."  
Contemplative silence.  
Ka: "...we shall hope she fares better in this then."  
The trio looked nervously amongst themselves.

  
  
_Credens Justitiam_  
A: "Oh boy, it's time for the generic magical girl transformation scene." She snarked.  
She looked on, in mild impression.  
Kaworu meanwhile listened in on the song that played. Specifically the lyrics.  
Asuka's impression of Mami Tomoe grew when she witnessed her take down what she would like to an Angel, with several thousand muskets. "Alright, credit where credit's due,  _that_  was pretty neat."  
Ke: "This isn't your regular magical girl anime, you realise."  
A: "Other than a few flashy scenes, it sure appears like that at first glance. She didn't even defeat the Ang- er, Witch."  
Sh: "...I imagine those two are gonna get into more conflict later on."  
Ky: "...That would've been  _preferable_."  
~

  
  
"So Kyubey's entire schtick is to entice girls into becoming  _magical?_ " Asuka incredulously questioned. "I mean,  _I'd_  probably take him up on that offer, depending on how many strings were attached."  
  
"There are many, believe me." Kyoko deadpanned. "Do you know how incredibly hard it is not to spoil all this for you lot?"  
  
"Oh hoh, it's probably chewing away at all your minds, ain't it?" She teased. "Shouldn't be too much of an issue I'd hope. Only 12 episodes, we're already one twelfth of the way through!"  
  
"I wonder how much you'd be able to fit in a series that small." Shinji pondered as the credits rolled. " _Our_  series had 26 episodes  _and_  a movie, and that was already quite a bit abridged."  
  
"Of course, it didn't really matter too much once everything changed." Asuka spoke in contempt of those frisbee's from hell. "And the other materials involving us were  _four_  movies, one of which doesn't even  _exist_."  
  
"At least this show is, from what we can tell, completely separate from  _this_  world." Sayaka spoke with relief. "Thank the Gods."  
  
"It's always possible something like that could exist." Rei pondered equally. "Our world is quite a bit odd. Isn't it Kaworu?"  
  
He was still thinking, subvocalising the lyrics to the song he just heard.  
_'query?'  
'song. recognise.'  
'how?'  
'scrolls.'_  
Rei's eyes went wide.  _'discuss later.'  
'ACK'_  
A chuckle to mask shock as she nudged Kaworu, prompting him to answer her vocal question with a "Quite. However, there are many severe departures from our own reality. I would expect that world to work differently from our own."  
  
Their little conversation remained completely hidden from everyone else. The next episode started in short time.  
  
"Why does this dead standard perform better with video than those damned  _Laserdiscs_?"  
~~~

 

##  That Sounds Wonderful

A: "Good to see this show isn't immune to reusing footage from the previous episode." She snarked.  
  
_Bath_  
Sh: "How could anything like that be evil? He's  _adorable_."  
Ke: "That's how he gets ya." He spoke flatly.  
Ky: "If you  _do_  happen to find something like that, please kill him at your earliest convenience."  
R: "As you say, this will be explained later on, right?"  
Ky: "Yeah, forgive us if our immense dislike of Kyubey comes across."  
Asuka snorted. "We spoke all the time during our watch parties, it's all fine. I think we actually  _missed_  a few key details due to it."  
Ka: "Tomoe has a better apartment than what NERV gives us."  
A: "Of course she would. It's not a NERV apartment."  
R: "Considering what _my_  apartment was, before the current Commander caught wind of my living conditions."  
Ke: "Was it really that bad?"  
R: "You know that block of abandoned apartments that were demolished a few months ago? I used to live there."  
He bug eyed. "Jeez it really was that bad."

  
  
_Soul Gem_  
Ka: "Do you know how ominous a name like  _Soul Gem_  is?"  
Ky: "Well, exposit your theory on it, and I'll tell you if it's right or not."  
Ka: "It's a core. It holds a soul.  _Her_  soul."  
The trio looked among themselves.  
R: "It seems your theory is correct, Kaworu."  
A: "Man, they do  _not_  know what to wish for."  
Sh: "What  _would_  you wish for, Asuka?"  
A: "Well,  _I_  already got all I could want," She smiled at Shinji. "but, you'd wish for something that would be completely impossible in our world. Something like time travel."  
Ka: "You do know that's not outside the realm of possibility in our world?"  
R: "Plus, one would have to account for the cost of such a wish. Fighting these Angelic beings. Without the aid of anyone else but your fellow magical girl, without anything like an Evangelion."  
A: "Knowing how the  _Angels_  were like, that probably puts a great deal of stress on these poor girls."  
Sh: "And at least we were somewhat  _trained_  to deal with the immense stresses of piloting and fighting. These poor girls don't have anything like that."  
R: "...do you think Kyubey  _wants_  it like that?"  
Sayaka thought to herself.  _"Holy shit, how are these people so good at knowing what happens."_

 _  
  
Samina Dostia_  
Kyubey explained the lore of Witches and Magi.  
A: "Well, that explains it then."  
Sh: "So the Witches cause all the woe in that world?"  
Ke: "I likened it to invisible Angels, yes."  
Ky: "It'd be nice if there was such an easy explanation for all the woe in the world."  
R: "It's nice to have  _some_  explanation on how the world works. For once."  
A: "Yeah, normally we just have to work things out as we go. It's nice being told how something works for once."  
Rei paid some mind to the song. And then to Kaworu, who was quiet.  
_'Not Scroll.'  
'Not?'  
'...Different.'_  
Sa: "At least you guys aren't the only teens that have to go through fighting horrible monsters."  
Chuckles between the pilots. "We can relate with that, at least." Spoke Asuka. "Not the whole Sailor Moon bullshit, but  _some_ parts, I suppose."

  
  
_Telepathy_  
Sa: " _That_  would be useful though."  
Ky: "Telepathy? Of course it'd be useful, being able to communicate with each other without having to  _actually_  speak."  
A: "Maybe we should get a magical ferret to do something like that."  
Chuckles.  
_'Telepathy great, no?'  
'Yes.'_  
The Nephilim giggled. "Of course, the problem with saying everything in the mind, is the people left stuck in the physical world doesn't know what you talk about."  
R: "Which could be useful. If you're talking about sensitive subjects."  
Sa: "But then you get Hitomi thinking Madoka and I were  _doing it_." She was flat.

  
  
_Schooling_  
A: "Long distance as well. Bet you two wish you had that during Crucifix, eh?"  
The Nephilim looked at one another and blushed. "It would've been nice. But we managed."  
Ke: "Oh yeah, that was  _so cool!_  Flying one of those giant mechs into space, and then  _landing_  the rocket it was sent up on? That was better than anything I could  _think_  of!"  
He continued going on. "Does he do this a lot?" Queried Asuka.  
Ky: "Yep." She smiled at him.  
~

  
  
_Rewards_  
A: "You don't want defeating the enemy to turn into a contest."  
Sh: "Cause then you get what happened in  _our_  show."  
Ky: "Not good?"  
A: "Let’s just say it ended with me catatonic." Her attempt as masking contempt failed.  
Sayaka cringed. "That bad eh?"  
A: "Yeah. Does it get that bad with your show?"  
Sa: "...that would be spoiling, wouldn't it?"

  
  
_Rooftop_  
Ka: "They seem a bit eager to get into a life risking situation with some alien cat."  
Sa: "At least  _I_  was a bit tentative towards such a proposal."  
A: "I mean, you never know if such a thing will fuck you over. As I'm sure it  _will_  do, since I'm almost certain this cute bastard has an agenda."  
R: "I find it concerning that most girls of that age would answer immediately."  
Ky: "Maybe that's why Kyubey goes for teenage girls instead of adults, or boys."  
Ke: "I always noticed that with these sorts of anime. Always the girls."  
A: "Considering the audience is more often than not  _otaku_ , you can see why." She scorned. "Plus, imagine seeing you or Shinji in a magical girl outfit."  
Asuka gave a sinister look to Shinji, which was shared by the other girls.  
Ka: "Oh Christ. I think they've had a collective idea."

  
  
_Homura_  
R: "It's obvious  _she_  knows the catch when it comes to becoming a magical girl."  
Ky: "Hence why she's so desperate to stop her."  
A: "Must be a pretty damn huge catch then."  
Sh: "I might as well be used to them by now." He deadpanned.  
Sa: "And she  _still_  thinks Madoka and I are an item."  
Ky: "She wouldn't guess  _we_  were an item."  
A: "You didn't tell her?"  
Ky: "You see how she reacted in the anime, she would've reacted the same way in  _our_  world as well."

  
  
_Prep_  
Ke: "It was great to see you would've been well prepared to face these abstract monstrosities."  
Sayaka shrugged. "It's no Evangelion, but it's better than your fists. Even though I'm still a wet noodle when it comes to that sort of stuff."  
Ka: "Some martial arts could come in handy in this situation. At least against  _non_  Witch targets."  
A: "Or a gun. Several thousand guns, like what Tomoe has."  
Sh: "I don't think I've seen a magical girl anime where they have guns."  
A: "What magical girl anime  _have_  you seen, Shinji?"  
Sh: "Sailor Moon, "  
Asuka just raised her eyebrow. "Not exactly a wide pool of data."  
Ka: "Ah but Asuka, having more than one data point is dangerous. What if you had to change your hypothesis?"  
They laughed.  
A: "I wish college worked like that." She grumbled.

  
  
_Light of the Soul_  
Rei whispered to Kaworu. "That reminds me of how  _you_  use  _your_  light, Kaworu."  
"To search for one of my own?"  
A nod in reply.  
"...it does have some similarities, doesn't it?"  
A: "...that's goddamn  _Faust_."  
Ky: "That a German story?"  
Nods from Asuka and Kaworu. "He was an alchemist who traded his soul to Satan, for unlimited knowledge."  
A: "And worldly pleasures. Which  _I_  wouldn't think was worth an eternity in hell."  
Ka: "He was an odd man."  
Sh: "I doubt a folk tale would explain why a women strolled into an abandoned building like that."  
Sa: "Witch's curse."  
A: "...don't tell me she's gonna-"

  
  
_Desolate_  
A: "...fucks sake, she is..."  
Ke: "Witches can be pretty horrible like that."  
A: "...it would've been a better explanation than what usually happens."  
She grew quiet. The trio realised they had stumbled on a nerve, as Shinji went for her hand.

  
  
_Gertrud_  
Sa: "I'd probably put a bat like that up on a mantle before using it as a weapon."  
Ka: "Then again, only the greatest of weapons get placed on the mantle."  
Sh: "Man, Tomoe really knows how to use a gun."  
A: "...I don't think they're even proper guns."  
R: "Imagine if, whenever we had to defeat Angels, we had to traverse through an abstract maze every time."  
A: "Knowing this world, it would've sapped at our sanity until we were babbling in a padded cell."  
The pilots eyes went wide as they saw the Witch.  
Ka: "At the very least, the Angels were actually present in this plane of existence."  
A: "...All this hidden Witch business kinda reminds me of how Leliel worked. Though Leliel was much more boring than this."  
Ka: "...Gertrud. What an odd name for an Angel. Or a Witch in this case."  
Sh: "They actually subtitled those runes."  
Ka: "...so they did. We have a few pieces of that puzzle now."

  
  
_Tiro Finale_  
They looked on as the magical gunslinger completely destroyed the Ange- Witch.  
With a positively massive gun, that wouldn't look out of place being handled by an  _Evangelion_.  
A: "...holy shit, she's pretty awesome."  
A sad little smile from Sayaka. "She was always a bit like that."  
Ka: "I assume the Grief Seed is the soul of the Witch."  
R: "It's in a similar form to the Soul Gem, so I would-" She stopped dead in her tracks, and thought. " _Why_  is the Grief Seed similar to a Soul Gem?"  
Sayaka thought in shock,  _'Holy shit, how does she do that?'_  
Ka: "An odd thing, isn't it? If Witches and magical girls embody similar concepts, then it would make sense their "vessels" were similar."  
R: "I suppose, but I suspect there's something odd going on."  
Sh: "Only two episodes in, and your alarms are already going off?"

  
  
_Bad Dream_  
A: "At least Tomoe seems to enjoy doing that."  
Sh: "Kinda reminds me of Makinami."  
A: "Which Makinami?"  
Sh: "Judging by the reports, either." He deadpanned.  
Ky: "She a pilot too?"  
Solemn nods. "Ken, you know of the Nevada incident, don't you?"  
Ke: "Ye- Oh. Oh shit..."  
Ka: "...You must realise, Aida, that piloting the Evangelion is inherently fraught with risk."  
A: "Each sortie could be our last, even if we played all our cards right. Sometimes that's just how it is."  
Sh: "...even when you  _don't_  go into battle, you could still end up dead. Like my mother."  
Kensuke went pale. He could relate.

  
  
"But that's how war is like." Rei added on. "War is hell, as they say."  
  
Kensuke quietly thought to himself. "...I know war is hell. I out of most people my age, I should know that."  
  
"And yet you _fetishise_ piloting an Evangelion like it’s some great thing." Asuka firmed. "Don't you?"  
  
"...yeah." He was starting to get a few things. "But you must realise that the way you're framed, like you're Gods or something."  
  
"None of us are Gods. We're human." Spoke Kaworu, of all people. "The way Evangelion works, everything they experience  _we_  experience."  
  
"...which includes pain."  
  
"Yes." He turned inward. "The Angel named Arael was my first sortie against such... beasts. I was rendered inoperable as it... invaded my mind. And showed me so many things I did not want to see. I..."  
  
"...It happened to me as well." Spoke Rei, holding Kaworu. "It was only through Shinji disobeying the commander, and Asuka finally defeating it, that the attack stopped." She held the fish's hand tight. "If not for those two. Then I imagine our minds would've been torn to shreds."  
  
That made him quiet.  
  
"Did you not know before, Aida?" Kaworu spoke gently.  
  
Shaking.  
  
"...now you do."  
  
"...I'll have to rethink a few things." He admitted. "...for now, let’s watch the next couple episodes."  
  
"...wait, just how many episodes can you fit on one of those things?"  
  
"Four."  
  
Asuka gave an incredulous look. "How on Earth did  _Laserdisc_  survive but  _that_  didn't."  
~~~

 

##  I’m Not Afraid of Anything Anymore

 _The Boy_  
Sa: "That's him."  
Ky: "He wasn't in a hospital or anything though." She thought. "Least, we don't  _think_  he ended up in a hospital.  _That_  kind of injury would've devastated him."  
Ke: "Might be a good idea to head down to Tokyo-2 to catch up then."  
R: "How long has it been since you last met up with your friends there?"  
Kyoko thought. "A fair bit. Should probably make the trek down there sometime soon."  
Sh: "Well, there's still a few weeks or so left for the break."

  
  
_Dangerous Work_  
Ka: "So they have familiars too."  
A: "That's a bit bullshit. All that work and you don't get anything."  
Ke: "You get the satisfaction of  _people not dying_."  
A: "But I already get that satisfaction when I sortie in my Eva."  
Sh: "Maybe becoming a magical girl isn't for you then."  
A: "Probably not. If I had a choice between Eva or becoming a magical girl, I'd pick the Eva."  
Ky: "Least with an Eva you have  _some_  protection against the Angels."

  
  
_Accident_  
Ka: "...was this a similar scenario to what happened with Tomoe? If you don't mind me asking."  
Sa: "...yeah."  
Ky: "...as we said, Madoka doesn't talk much about it."  
Grim thoughts crossed the pilot's minds.  
Ke: "...it wasn't really online as well, so snooping around didn't help much."  
Asuka felt melancholy. "Poor girl. I don't even have high hopes for her show self, honestly."  
R: "... _we_  were quite shafted in  _our_  show."  
Sh: "Hopefully not though. I like Tomoe, she seems like a nice friend."  
A sad smile from Sayaka. "She is. Maybe you could come with us to Tokyo-2 someday, we could all meet each other."  
A: "Good luck getting NERV to allow _that_ many pilots a few days’ vacation." She derided. "Also, does Kyubey specifically target the people who don't really have much choice on becoming a magical girl?"  
R: "Obviously he  _wants_  them to become a magical girl. Hence why he targets a demographic known to make hasty decisions."

  
  
_Power_  
A: "So  _that's_  why Kyubey's pushing for Madoka."  
Ka: "I imagine it knows her potential. Though its odd her out of all people would have that immense power."  
Sh: "Well, she  _is_  the protagonist of this story." He frowned. "Why wasn't  _I_  lucky enough to  _not_  get traumatised."  
Laughter between the pilots, but the trio gawked at this, as it wasn't the first example of their darker sense of humour. "Your collective sense of humour seems rather warped." Deadpanned Kensuke.  
R: "Piloting Eva does that to you."  
Shinji chuckled. "Madoka's mother kinda reminds me of Misato."  
Asuka snickered in reply. "Only I don't recall her ever being  _this_  drunk  _before_  coming home. Her father also kinda reminds me of  _you_ , Shin-chan." She messed his hair.

  
  
_Confrontation_  
Ka: "I wonder why Akemi is pushing so hard to  _not_  want Madoka to become a magical girl."  
R: "She knows  _something_. I don't yet know what that something would be, but I imagine it's important."  
Ke: "You're not too far off, but that would be spoiling the show."  
A: "Oh look, they find a Witch before it becomes a problem. Just like we did."  
Sh: "Sandalphon in our case would've been a problem anyway. Just like this Witch."  
A: "Though that is rather kind of Kyubey to do that for you, Miki."  
Sa: "I definitely thought that at the time."

  
  
_Collage_  
Ka: "And now we return to the abstract."  
Ky: "I found it weird all the Witches seemed to exist in their own realm, yet they could still effect change in the real world."  
Ka: "When you compare Angels to Witches, it is indeed somewhat odd. However odd the Angels were, they were at least in our physical world."  
A: "Would've made our jobs many times harder if they could hide themselves in another universe. Though Leliel was kinda like that, I suppose."  
Sh: "Y'know, I think Tomoe and Akegi's failure to communicate will factor in to upcoming events."  
R: "Like failing to communicate factored into our own show."  
A: "Except  _that_  was a major clusterfuck of failure that resulted in the  _world ending_."  
Ky: "Wait, your show ended with the  _world ending?_  What the hell did ya do?!"  
R: "To be fair, it wasn't our fault. Mostly."  
Ka: "Powers well beyond our control. We were but pawns."  
A: "Might tell you guys about it sometime."  
Ke: "It probably had something to do with those alien Eva, right?"  
A: "...Somewhat."

  
  
_Ari Aditia_  
Sh: "Madoka kinda sounds a bit like me. Not knowing what to do or who to be."  
A: "Except  _she_  has had a relatively sheltered life. No big tragedy that changes everything."  
Sa: "I thought it quite selfless of her, wanting to become a magical girl not for one’s advantage but to help others."  
Ky: "Kinda fits with how she's like, isn't it?"  
Sa: "...though I hope Mami wasn't like this."  
A: "...i can actually relate with her, in that regard at least. It was lonely, being a pilot."  
Ke: "Until you found Shinji."  
A: "...Yeah, until I found Shinji." She smiled at him. "Him, and my other friends too. At least Tomoe was able to realise she had  _someone_."  
Sh: "Though it’s almost like the directors are trying to make Madoka and Tomoe an item."  
Ky: "It sure looked like that. Mami would be horrified."  
Chuckles between the puella. "Plus, I'm sure Homura wouldn't like that."  
Ky: "Oh for sure. But Mami knows anyway, doesn't she?"

  
  
_Believing in Justice_  
A: "Man, she actually looks happy to do this now."  
R: "I'd liken it to how you were like in the show, when you truly realised you weren't alone."  
A: "Rei, that was literally  _minutes_  before I was torn to shreds." She deadpanned. "This show is a bit darker than Sailor Moon, I admit, but I doubt that will happen to a major character."  
Ka: "It's good when you can finally let go on all your baggage. I'm sure we all appreciate having friends and lovers to be with."  
Nods between everyone.  
Sh: "Especially with  _our_  jobs. We pretty much need hugs, or other types of business, after each sortie."  
Ky: "I can guess what that business is." She deadpanned.  
A: "I know for a fact you two get up to that sort of stuff too. Aida's a lucky bastard."  
Kensuke started spluttering as everyone laughed.

  
  
_Charlotte_  
A: "Aww, look at how adorable that little monstrosity is." She put on her best 'dripping with diabetes' voice.  
Ka: "Yet more letters we could add to the cipher." He took a mental note.  
Sh: "If the Angels looked like that, we'd probably coddle it to death or something like that."  
The trio kept quiet, a collective decision was made to  _not_  tell them about anything.

  
  
_Demise_  
The pilots just looked on in shock, the trio looking on in wistful melancholy. Asuka was first to speak. "...jesus fucking christ."  
Sh: "...that's  _way_  too brutal for a magical girl anime."  
Ke: "...this ain't a typical magical girl anime."  
A: "But that's  _fucked_.  _Our_  show was brutal, but that was to be expected. And even then, none of us got  _decapitated_." Her anger was evident.  
R: "...she didn't even do anything. She had a good few seconds to react. I think she was blinded by finally having someone to call a friend. Too hasty."  
Ka: "...i wouldn't expect that to  _blind_  someone to a danger like that though."  
Shinji sighed in resignation. "...gods damn it, I liked her too."

  
  
"...do you think she was meant to be the sacrificial lamb? To show us that yes, the dangers of being a magical girl  _are_  real." Kaworu spoke solemnly.  
  
"...did you have people die in your show too?" Sayaka spoke. Even thought that was her second time witnessing that, she still found it hard to keep composure.  
  
"...not  _this_  early." Shinji was quiet. "...they only really started towards the tail end of the show."  
  
"...This is only 12 episodes long." Spoke Kensuke. "They would have to fit a lot more in a shorter timeframe."  
  
"...which means more traumatising moments for these poor kids." Asuka realised. "How much more trauma could they fit in 9 episodes?"  
  
"We should know." Rei was quiet. "They made a whole movie about our trauma."  
  
"...at least with your giant robots, you have  _some_  protection." Kyoko was quiet.  
  
The next episode started in short order.  
~~~

 

##  Both Miracles and Magic Exist

 _Hospital_  
Sa: "...I always wondered why this show decided Kyosuke be crippled."  
R: "...It would probably give you an incentive to become a magical girl, you realise."  
Sa: "...it  _is_  a pretty good incentive."  
Ka: "...though I'm sure you realise that miracles like that have their costs."  
Sa: "...oh I definitely realised that."  
Ky: "It's definitely a decent incentive to become a magical girl. On paper."  
A: "Most things are better on paper. Like 'Piloting a giant mech'."

  
  
_Trauma_  
Sh: "...yeah, that looks pretty accurate to what I used to be like." He sighed. "You get used to the trauma though."  
A: "Yeah... just gotta live through life." She looked on at Madoka, sympathetic. "Poor pinkie's probably got PTSD."  
Ka: "...as you would, seeing a friend like that... die." He gave a meaningful look and feel to Rei.  
Rei picked up on this emotion. "...and not having many people to talk about it too. We can all relate with that. It's how we used to live, after all."  
Ky: "...jeez, it sounds like your lives were trash."  
A: "...that's a pretty accurate assessment." Grim. "It got better though. Amazingly, we were able to break down our barriers and help each other get to where we are today. I.e.,  _not dead_."  
Sh: "...I shudder to think where I'd be, had we not got together."  
Sa: "...considering you mentioned the  _end of the world_  in  _your_  show."

  
  
_School_  
Ky: "Yep. This was another rant I remembered."  
Sa: "Sunny side came  _after_  this one though."  
A: "Shinji's right. Listening to someone's disastrous love life is more interesting than listening to the same Second Impact story over and over again."  
Ky: "Oh definitely." She said offhand.  
Sh: "...this is pretty much how such trauma feels like. Like your life suddenly changes."  
Ka: "Of course, it doesn't help that we might as well live a separate life from any other civilian. Like you three." A meaningful glance at the trio, a hand holding Rei's. "But we're lucky, in a way, to have so many friends to fall back on. You and Madoka, you only have one another. And I doubt you'd have the mental maturity to deal with such a thing."  
A: "...considering almost all of us here trained for all our lives to  _be_  a pilot. Whereas you and pinkie here have only had at most a  _week_  dealing with this business."  
R: "...it's no wonder they're struggling."  
Sa: "... _I_  would struggle in such a way too, if I had to deal with that. Even  _now_."  
Ke: "...is piloting really that-"  
A: "Yes. Trust me on this Aida. I've been piloting my Eva for over a decade." A glance towards Shinji. "But it was only in the past one or two years that I've actually enjoyed my life."  
Kensuke went quiet.  
Sh: "...odds are, we won't be needing more pilots anyway. The UN restricted the maximum amount of active Evangelion to five per country, and we have four."  
Ka: "...though knowing NERV, they might hire you anyway. You have other skills they could want."  
Ke: "...that's true."  
Sh: "...at least Kyubey's apologetic about it all."

  
  
_No Reply_  
A: "...not that it helps pinkie. Poor girl..."  
Ky: "...thing is, this is accurate for  _our_  Madoka too. She wouldn't know how to handle  _anything_  like this."  
Sh: "...has she been particularly sheltered?"  
Sa: "...she has decent folks. But realistically, none of us were sheltered after Second Impact."  
Ky: "She still wouldn't talk about stuff like this though."  
Sayaka nodded sadly. "I'm sure she's told Homura something. But..."  
R: "...maybe she wants to wait until you're there with her."  
Sa: "...yeah."  
A: "...man, Tomoe didn't deserve that."  
R: "No one truly deserves what happens to them. But that's what happens."  
A: "...Not just death, but... no one even knowing you're gone. That's... thats one of my greatest fears."  
Shinji scooted closer to her, to give her some comfort.  
~

  
  
_Break_  
Sa: "...man, I can be a chatterbox at the wrong times."  
Ke: "...yeah. I doubt he wants to be reminded of that."  
Sa: "...hence my wish."  
A: "...yeah, you do seem quite naive here, Miki."  
Sh: "...out of all the things you could wish for though. Wanting someone else to recover from injury is quite selfless of you."  
Sa: "...i'm a bit of an idiot, am I?"  
Ka: "I wouldn't call it idiotic. I'm sure every one of us would do something like that, if push came to shove."

  
  
_Zombie_  
A: "Great, they got her friend."  
R: "Maybe this is where she becomes a magical girl. Unless Akemi came to rescue her."  
Ka: "Or another magical girl. Maybe even Miki, since it looks like she will form the contract."  
Sh: "She really needs to remember to get their numbers."  
Ky: "She can be a bit like that. Though it’s never  _this_  dire."  
A: "...have we even seen you in this show yet, Sakura?"  
A smirk. "Not  _yet_."  
A: "...well, hopefully  _someone's_ gonna stop this." She shuddered.  
Sh: "What's with this show and suicide? This is the second one so far."  
A: "...at least pinkie here was able to stop them. Though now they're going for her."  
Ke: "...it's better than dying like that."

  
  
_Kirsten_  
R: "Though now she will get trapped in a witch dimension."  
Ka: "...Kirsten. This would be like a civilian getting trapped inside Leliel."  
A: "...not good. Though... this isn't entirely like Leliel. That was  _nothing_ , this Witch's realm is like you're delving into their abstract mind."  
Sh: "...either way, it's still tormenting Madoka with memories. Like... Arael."  
The pilots shuddered at this remark.

  
  
_Decretum_  
Ka: "It  _was_  you who rescues her."  
A chuckle from Sayaka. "Someone's gotta do it. And since I made my decision, I might as well."  
A: "...Damn Miki, you're pretty decent at that."  
Ky: "I'm sure she would be, if Kyubey came to our world and hooked her into becoming a magical girl. But she  _won't_  do that, will you?"  
Sa: "Oh hell no. Not after watching this shit."  
A: "Speaking of magical girls,  _you're_  one too, Sakura?"  
She rubbed the back of her head. "Can't let Sayaka have all the trauma in this show now, can we?"  
Ka: "A shame you two appear to become adversaries."  
She shrugged. "In a situation like that, of course we'd become enemies."

  
  
"It makes sense." Spoke Rei. "By the sounds of it, you have a limited amount of power. And a Grief Seed recovers that power."  
  
"And to the victor goes the goods, after all." Asuka thought. "Though it sounds like a vicious cycle. Use your power to fight Witches and their familiars, all just to recover your own power. Eventually you'll just run out of energy, and God knows what'll happen there."  
  
"...death, probably. If the Soul Gem is indeed a vessel for the soul." Kaworu was quiet. "That's the end of the first disc, right?"  
  
"And not a moment too soon." Kensuke investigated some things on his computer. "You could cook an egg on this."  
  
"...I already told you how Arael was like for me. But the Angel after that was somehow even worse for me. It... raped Rei and I."  
  
"...eventually, I had to resort to detonating my Evangelion. But I survived. I had severe injury and amnesia but I survived." A bent truth.  
  
"...i thought she died." He was quiet. "she anchored me, still does in fact. i would've ended myself had it not been for her." Another twisted truth.  
  
Quiet.  
  
"...think about that, next time you think about piloting an Evangelion. Will you be able to handle the stresses that come with it? Or would you succumb to despair, like Kaworu almost did."  
  
"...i will, Rei." The disc was put away. "Same time tomorrow?"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"We still have more episodes to watch, after all." Kensuke put on a brave face.  
  
"...that sounds alright."  
  
The trio said their goodbyes and led the pilots out of their abode. Once that was done, Aida simply dropped down on his bed, wistful.  
  
"That Evangelion talk get to ya, Ken?" Kyoko sat down at the edge, Sayaka joining them in short order.  
  
"...So that's how it feels like to have your dreams shattered."  
  
"...you didn't realise that piloting those giant robots would be so traumatising, did you?" Sayaka went for a hand. "Thought it'd be like those shows you watch."  
  
He thought. "...y'know? I didn't." A groan. "Gods, I'm such an idiot."

* * *

 

"I gotta say though, as a show it's quite nice."  
  
"Though much like how  _our_  show was like, " Rei began, as they walked to the train station. "it completely subverted what you would expect of that genre."  
  
"That's probably why I can tolerate it better." Asuka deadpanned. "Though, it's a bit different once you realise that all those characters are  _real_."  
  
"Yeah. It sounds like Miki and Sakura were pretty close with them all. Gods, that would've been hard on them seeing Tomoe's death for the first time."  
  
"...they  _still_  don't know her status." Kaworu was quiet. "For all we know she  _could_  be gone."  
  
"...I suppose we won't know of that." Shinji was sombre. "I hope for their sakes she's alright."  
  
"...you know how this world's like, Shinji." She held his hand tighter. "Let’s try moving away from that subject though. I noticed quite a few similarities to our world."  
  
"Indeed, Asuka." Kaworu began the discussion on this new universe. "It appears that magical girls and Witches share a common core like structure."  
  
"I imagine you could explain many of the things that happen as 'A unique application of the AT-Field'." Deadpanned Asuka. "You can do pretty much anything with that damned thing."  
  
Laughter. "That would explain some things about the Witches. Although if the magical girls had AT-Fields like us Nephilim, that would've prevented what occurred."  
  
"There's always a chance she couldn't get a 'field' up in time." Rei spoke. "Of course, we can't rule out the fact that the laws of the universe are  _different_. Maybe in that world, the  _concept_  of an AT-Field is non-existent."  
  
"Yet another possibility. One of several dozen we could come up with." The fish chuckled. "The main problem with these other universes, it's pretty much impossible to actually  _know_  about these other universes, other than the foreign material that just so happens to come through a Dirac Rift."  
  
"It's odd though. Everything that's come through so far has been of some significance to us and NERV. Even though it has Miki and Sakura in it, it's not exactly relevant to  _our_  universe, isn't it?" Shinji posed.  
  
"It probably  _does_  have some significance." Asuka bumped him. "Maybe it's the universe trying to tell us what SEELE is up to."  
  
"If they wanted to do that, they could've just sent us a book called 'How to stop SEELE'." The blue haired Nephilim dripped with deadpan. "Although, it seems to have at least  _some_  significance to  _you_ , Kaworu."  
  
"Yeah, what was that about seeing Akemi?"  
  
A chuckle from the fish. "It was an odd feeling. You guys know how I can sometimes see echoes of other timelines and universes, right?"  
  
Nods between the group.  
  
"In each and every one of them, I always notice this one figure. A girl, black of hair with violet eyes. We never met, but she was always there somewhere. Sometimes walking somewhere, sometimes not. There's been more than a few times where she just looked at me, like that apparition of Rei in the Laserdiscs."  
  
Thinking as they stopped at the station, now waiting for the train. "Sounds like she served as a subconscious marker that you were in another universe." Asuka theorised.  
  
"That's what I think. She's a common factor, in fact I use the sight of this girl to know for sure I am looking through the lens of time."  
  
"It's odd that this girl looks exactly like Akemi then." Shinji spoke the obvious. "Could she be like you, maybe? From another universe or timeline, but doing the same thing you were."  
  
Kaworu pondered. "It's certainly  _possible_. Through the universes, the concept of time remains the same. At least for  _my_ purposes."  
  
"You can't  _physically_  send yourself back in time. But you can project yourself, with immense skill and thought."  
  
"Power too.  _I_  am able to do it, because I had the aide of an S2 organ." Now on the train, Kaworu was able to rest his head on Rei's shoulder.  
  
"I attempted it once, after Kaworu showed me." She chuckled. "I used up my energy reserves in around 3 seconds, and shortly after that I slept 16 hours, and ate essentially nonstop for a few days afterwards."  
  
The other two pilots chuckled at this. "Damn Rei, pushing yourself a bit there."  
  
"Not to worry, Asuka." She smiled. "Draining that much power won't result in anything other than fatigue. That sort of power use is an exceptional case anyway, other applications of the AT-Field don't require such immense power on my part. Plus, I might be able to draw on Kaworu's power anyway." Her hand drifted down his arm. "Aren't partners grand, Asuka?"  
  
"If I knew what I was missing out on, I would've found Shinji long ago."  
  
"And I would've done the same with you too, Asuka." A kiss. "Hang on, shouldn't physical time travel be possible with an S2 Engine? Since it provides infinite power and that."  
  
" _Indefinite_ , not  _infinite_." Corrected Kaworu. "The S2 organ can generate immense power, and it can store an absolutely absurd amount of power. But it's impossible to have a truly infinite power source." He thought. "Rei and I actually theorise things like that when we're bored."  
  
Asuka was flat. "And when I assume you're not  _jackhammering through the walls_."  
  
"You'd be surprised, Asuka. Some men  _can_  multitask."  
  
The other pair burst out laughing as Kaworu continued. "But yeah. To actually send  _yourself_  back in time, the power required would destroy the Earth in short order."  
  
"So something you'd only do if the world was  _already_  destroyed."  
  
"Pretty much, yeah. But as I said, not outside the realms of possibility."  
  
A comfortable silence descended in the near empty carriage.  
  
"That makes me wonder thought." Shinji cut the quiet. "We don't know if Akemi in the show has powers related to time."  
  
"Well," Rei thought. "controlling time would explain her erratic movement against Charlotte."  
~~~

  
  
"So," Asuka began, dinner mostly done and a soda in hand. "Aida and his partners invited us to see what was on those DVDs he found."  
  
"Mhm?" Misato didn't bother swallowing her food. "Whawasonit?"  
  
"It was indeed a Sailor Moon like anime, staring Miki and Sakura, plus their friends from their previous school."  
  
"ShullIas-" She actually swallowed the food, washing it down with her canned water. "Should I ask how long it took to get to the immense trauma?"  
  
"You don't have very high hopes, do you Misato?" Kaworu looked towards her.  
  
"How long." In deadpan.  
  
"Three episodes, with a major character getting their head chewed off by an Angel rip-off."  
  
A fine mist of beer escaped from Misato. "You're joking? God damn you're _not_ joking."  
  
"Yeah, imagine how the others felt." Shinji deadpanned. "Especially since she was their friend."  
  
"...And it sounded like she was in a serious accident. In  _our_  world."  
  
Misato could tell they were growing wistful. "I could look her up, I suppose."  
  
From under a pile of folders, she pulled out her busted up terminal. "Name?"  
  
"Mami Tomoe."  
  
A single chuckle. "That's a nice name." Typing on the keyboard. "Gonna need more info than a name."  
  
"She was senior to Miki and Sakura, Tokyo-2, and she may or may not have had blonde hair with curls, it's kinda hard to tell."  
  
"Danke." More typing. She turned the screen to the pilots. "This her?"  
  
A girl, a dead ringer for the Mami of the show, was depicted. "Yeah, that's her."  
  
Misato perused through her file. "Well, she's not  _dead_. Though I don't really know much else than that."  
  
A sigh of relief from Asuka. "It was more than what we knew about her before. Thanks Misato."  
  
"No biggie." She gave a grin. "Did Miki and Sakura not know of her status?"  
  
"They weren't really too expressive about it, for completely justified reasons." Rei began. "Either through not knowing what happened, or not wanting to tell us."  
  
"Which is fair enough." Backed up Asuka. " _I_  probably wouldn't want to tell many people if something like that happened. And considering how Madoka sounds like, she probably wouldn't say much about it, at least not over a phone."  
  
"Madoka their friend as well?"  
  
"In Tokyo-2, yeah." Kaworu spoke. "Miki and her are pretty close."  
  
"It’s good to see those girls still keep in touch with their old friends." A chuckle, as she drank. "God knows how many people I knew in secondary or college that I didn't keep in touch with."  
  
"Sounds like life." Asuka spoke, continuing to eat. "Never know who you get to spend it with, and for how long."  
~~~

  
  
Kaworu and Rei made it back to their abode in time.  
  
Almost immediately, Kaworu went for a scratchpad and a pen, writing down what he could remember.  
  
"Is this the song you mentioned?"  
  
"Yeah." The first page complete, he went to work on the next, another song. "But the first one, ' _Solti Ola I'_ , is not what I'm concerned about."  
  
She looked over the words and frowned. "I don't understand this."  
  
"It's not a language spoken. It  _looks_  Romantic, but that's just how one would put it in the English alphabet. What if I told you that  _this_  was a language of  _God_ , and the song was a depiction of the Dead Sea Scrolls?"  
  
Her eyes went wide, as they did when he mentally told her hours ago. "Were they written in such a language?"  
  
"The language was more runic, but the pronunciation was similar. I remember because I was  _taught_ the words and their meaning." He continued writing. "What you heard in the song, was but a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls prophecy; specific key words being 'Promised Day', 'Instrumentality', and 'Station'." He pointed at various lines of the script. "Station in this case being stations of  _evolution_."  
  
"...Which makes sense, as that's what SEELE wanted." She boggled her mind at the thought of such secret information being in some Dirac Rift sourced, magical girl anime from another universe. "What about the second song? The more melancholic sounding one?"  
  
"That's the issue." He finished writing and Rei looked. "The words are a part of that language. But this was  _not_  a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls."  
  
"Not?" The lyrics were read. "Were there  _other_  prophecies?"  
  
"No. Well, not that I know of."  
  
"But the possibility is there."  
  
"Yes. Which is what concerns me. What if this SEELE on Mars business was but a part of a grander scheme?"  
  
Rei grew even more concerned. "Do you know what it says?"  
  
"Only the word shared between the two pieces.  _Estia_. Literally, it's  _'time'_ , but when you combine the previous two words, the meaning changes to  _'Promised Day'_."  
  
"So we don't know then."  
  
"Unfortunately not." He had a brainwave. "There is  _someone_  who might know, though."  
~~~

  
  
Kaji had put his satellite phone down, leaning back on the luxurious hotel bed. Misato was happy to hear his voice at least. He had to remember to get her something nice while he was in California.  
  
She had been wanting a new terminal lately. What better place to get top of the line tech than what used to be Silicon Valley. The issue with valleys though, is that they tended to flood during Second Impact, so all the major (existing) tech companies moved to Massachusetts with NERV.  
  
Still though. The United States are well known for pushing the boundaries. Maybe he'd get her one of those newfangled (and Gods damned expensive) keyboard phones a certain fruit named company recently introduced. Hell, those phones are probably better than the terminal she had  _now_.  
  
He chuckled to himself, as he went to set his body clock to PST.  
  
The phone rang before he could do such thing though. "Kaji here."  
  
" _It's Nagisa. I think I have found something_."

* * *

 


	2. EPM 2

* * *

 

A bag was thrown haphazardly onto the bed, its expensive cargo considered of little relative importance in comparison to the scratchpad he carried with him.  
  
On went a lamp, as Kaji went to work.  
  
Rummaging through his briefcase, and scattering various faxes, documents and forms to the metaphorical wind, he pulled out a little red book, contained was his sum knowledge on this language of SEELE.  
  
So not much.  
  
Still, it was an interesting development. Oversight has ample resources to translate such texts,  _and_  such information may encourage 02 to see him as less of an adversary and more of an ally. Thats what this whole charade was about anyway. Friendship is one thing, but being allies doesn't necessarily require one.  
  
He still didn't entirely know where Kaworu found this specific morsel of information. 'A song', in Dirac Rift material like the Laserdiscs. Only the Gods knew  _how_  such sensitive information ended up in Rift material, but this universe was one of complete and arbitrary bullshit, so this was certainly possible.  
  
And indeed it  _was_  possible, considering he has the words right there.  
  
"Gods, this universe is headache inducing."  
~~~

  
  
_The river of time flowed.  
  
This astral plane was accessible only to those with such power and attenuation. As such, there were few occupants of this realm. The only ones at this station were himself, and the messengers of Lilith from other, less fortunate timelines. They did not disturb him.   
  
Even he, with such power, did not hold a candle to other beings of other universes, who could ride the rivers of time.  
  
From where he stood, he could see other, distant lands. Completely separate universes, separated by the insurmountable ocean; inaccessible to a simple broadcast like him, inaccessible to even the most powerful.  
  
On one, a boy in green. He traversed the same road, a distant flute marking his journey.  
  
Another, a winged unicorn, coat of midnight and mane of stars. The being could manifest and disappear at will, the purpose of their constant visitation he could not know.  
  
Yet another.   
  
The girl with purple eyes.   
  
Similar to the green garbed boy, she walked a lonely road. The only road that she had ever known.  
  
She stopped and stared across the ocean, seemingly _at _the ashen figure. A ghost under the light.  
  
The light flickered.  
  
He flickered back._

  
  
A girl woke with a start.  
~~~

  
Ritsuko had her head down on a written letter, from R&D, essentially saying they're full up doing all the other stuff she had assigned to them.  
  
"Tough break eh?" The Kohai wrapped arms around the Sempai.  
  
"We've got them doing a  _lot_  of stuff, to be fair." She sighed. "Speaking of, how's Ultradisc going?"  
  
"Umm," A quick excursion to her terminal. "Ultraviolet radiation levels are down to 95% of what they once were."  
  
"They're still non zero though, are they?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
A thud. "What of using the Ramiel substrate for storage?"  
  
Typing. "Current estimates at conventional data compression rates, using the baseline decoding hardware, puts it at approximately 20 gigabytes."  
  
The scientist recalled. "It's 1/3 of the foreign disc. But its infinitely better than CD or even DVD."  
  
"Something to celebrate?"  
  
"Maybe. What's the hardware like to actually  _read_  these discs?"  
  
"You know those bog standard, borderline dumb terminals NEC sells us for 5000 Yen? 12 of those."  
  
A thud. "The consumer is  _not_  going to buy a  _70 thousand Yen product_  without immense support. Which we don't have."  
  
"I'll be sure to inform them to reduce the cost." Maya found another item on the agenda. "This should bring some good news at least. The data from Rei's recent sync test with NT-Unit-00 is finally here, after several Unit-01 related delays."  
  
A thud. "Damn it, I completely forgot about that."  
  
A short giggle from Maya in reply. "Her sync with ELIZA is consistent, even more so than the OT-Unit-00. She reached a new max of 69.7%."  
  
A smirk. "What of ELIZA?"  
  
"Cognitive function has improved 40% from the last lot of tests we performed with her, though we believe she's starting to plateau when it comes to that. Language and social skills have also improved and plateaued in similar ways."  
  
Thinking as Ritsuko was handed the terminal, to look over the data. "I think we're reaching the limits for the hardware. She should be fine though, she can already function excellently."  
  
"Is that  _pride_  I hear, Ritsuko?" Maya bent down to lightly prod her, noticing she had also been using the female pronoun to refer to ELIZA.  
  
Ritsuko meanwhile fell quiet, head settled on the desk. She turned to her Kohai. "...she... she calls me her  _mother_ , Maya." Muted emotion stemmed from her. "i... i..."  
  
Maya looked at her for a few seconds, confusion giving way to a gentle, knowing smile as she gave her comfort. "She's been doing that for a while, has she?"  
  
A few sniffles. "i... it’s been on my mind since that first sync test we did with her."  
  
"...that was a fair bit ago, Sempai."  
  
"i know. i know. but... it's just got me thinking..."  
  
Maya thought, a quiet realisation. "...not ready to be a mother yet?"  
  
Sniffles became sobs.  
  
Maya continued holding her.  
~~~

  
  
"So how much more grim and dark and grimdark will this show be today?" Asuka scorned.  
  
"Normally I'd say you were cynical." The other candle equally intoned. "But considering we had some hindsight."  
  
Asuka huffed like an angry bull. "It's always the shows involving  _us_  that end up being completely fucked."  
  
"This is the  _third_  of those shows, Asuka." Rei was flat. "I would think you were used to it by now."  
  
"Are  _any_  of us used to it?"  
  
"No." Everyone replied to Shinji's foregone question.  
  
"Surely it cannot get too much worse from the current situation." Kaworu tried being optimistic.  
  
Key word  _tried_. The trio simply give a look towards the fish.

* * *

 

#  Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Disc 2

 

**Character key** :  
Shinji (Sh) Asuka (A)  
Rei (R) Kaworu (Ka)  
Kensuke (Ke) Sayaka (Sa) Kyoko (Ky)

 

##  There’s No Way I’d Regret This

_Contract_  
Sa: "I can say with full conviction that this was the _biggest_ mistake I made in this show."  
R: "It would've been a massive decision, wanting to do such thing."  
Sh: "Especially since you already  _knew_  what being a magical girl entails."  
Sa: "Which is what makes this decision even worse, cause I  _knew_."  
Ke: "You couldn't know of what being a magical girl was, at the time."  
Ky: "Yeah, didn't we only find out, like, halfway through the series?"  
Kaworu watched with growing concern, as Kyubey was paid his due. "He... that's the soul. What power he has to do such thing."  
Rei looked on, her feelings confused. Anger, maybe? At how this being could so easily mess with a soul.  
A: "You just made a deal with the damned  _devil_ , Miki."  
Sa: "Don't I know it." She said flat.

  
  
_School_  
Ky: "I thought it kinda odd that you seemed alright here, considering all the shit you just went through."  
A: "Everyone knows one of the best ways to get on with life is to bury all your feelings so they don't break you!"  
Ky: "...thats not-"  
A: "Yes Sakura, that was  _not_  serious." Complete deadpan.  
Sh: "At least Hitomi didn't seem that affected by the witch."  
Ka: "Once its influence wore off, at least."  
Ky: "Kinda odd she didn't take the day off, but knowing Hitomi, that's what she'd do."  
Sa: "...it's obvious Madoka didn't share my optimism."

  
  
_Wonderful_  
A: "You  _do_  sound quite a bit naive there, Miki."  
Sa: "I'm sure you had a similar experience when you became an Evangelion pilot."  
Asuka glared at the other bluenette. "For an  _hour_."  
Sayaka knew to shut up.  
Sh: "...I'm kinda feeling for Madoka here. She probably thinks she's useless, like I thought of myself."  
R: "...she  _has_  been dragged along a bit, hasn't she?"  
Ka: "...she's in a world she has no power to fight against. I wouldn't be surprised if she thought that."  
Ke: "At least a magical girl would have some power to fight and change things."  
R: "...she's still blaming herself for Tomoe."

  
  
_Miracle_  
Sa: "I wouldn't regret wishing to heal him."  
Ka: "But what did you  _truly_  want? Him to be better, or him to love you?"  
Sa: "...okay,  _how the hell_  are you guys so perspective about these things?"  
A shrug. "Gotta be in our line of work."  
R: "It doesn't help the both of us are naturally inclined to pick up on the more obfuscated feelings and details people could have."  
Sh: "It's good to see he's sorry for how he acted, though."  
Sa: "That's Kyosuke for you. Sweet boy but he gets frustrated easily. Though he tries not to take it out on us."  
A: "It does seem he's opening up to you though. I'd say you'd win him." Flippant. "If not for the fact whoever directed this seemed to take a page out of  _our_  show director's book of 'shitting on the hopes and dreams of your characters'."  
Laughter. "Pretty much sums it up." Spoke Kensuke.  
A: "Though it  _is_  quite sweet you organised all that for him."  
The melancholic sound welled. Sayaka gave a sad smile, shared by Asuka, a sense of joy for a fellow violin player.

  
  
_Kyoko_  
A: "You sure eat a lot, Sakura."  
Ky: "I was taught very early on the importance of not wasting food." She gave a knowing look to the other candle.  
As if through magic, Asuka completely understood what she meant, and didn't pursue further.  
Ka: "...Kyubey's talking about Akemi. I find it odd he doesn't know about her, if all magical girls formed a contract with him."  
Rei shrugged. "It's possible there's  _other_  Kyubey. Whatever their species are."  
A: "What about becoming a magical girl  _without_  Kyubey. Through sheer force of will."  
Ky: "Out of all the people who could possibly will themselves into a magical girl,  _Homura_  is the polar opposite."  
Sh: "This probably gets explained later anyway. I would hope at least."  
A: "Though that does put her motivations into question."  
Ke: "All will be answered in time."

  
  
_Pragma_  
Ky: "If we take what Homura's talking about from a  _pragmatic_  perspective, you can kinda understand."  
A: "To be fair, that kinda applies in the real world as well. Gotta know when to put things like kindness to the side."  
Sh: "It's kinda easier with us though, cause we're facing the abominations in  _giant mechs_. And teamwork is important to defeating the enemy."  
Ka: "If becoming a magical girl is indeed like selling your soul, then Akemi would be right."  
Sa: "That would  _not_  be what Madoka would want to hear though."  
Ka: "Madoka would fall into the same traps Akemi described, if she became a magical girl. Like our world, their world is one of brutality and pain. You simply cannot be weak."  
R: "Unfortunate, but true."  
A: "...then becoming a magical girl is a truly Faustian deal."  
Ka: "Everyone has something they would sell a soul for." He looked towards Shinji. "Your father would know this."

  
  
_Patrol_  
Sh: "She so desperately wants to be of some use."  
Sa: "...i hope _our_ Madoka doesn't feel like this. I wouldn't have known."  
Ka: "...it's likely, you realise. Your personalities appear similar to the show, at least parts."  
R: "...hopefully she has the support she needs. Like how the you of the show supports her, Miki."  
Sa: "...she definitely has that."  
R: "That's good."  
A: " _We_  definitely needed that as well."  
Ky: "And of course, Kyubey here had a plan."  
Ka: "Madoka seems to factor into his plans a lot. Kinda similar to how all of us once factored into a master plan."  
Ke: "Madoka wouldn't be able to comprehend such a plan."  
Ka: "Oh God no,  _we_  couldn't comprehend  _our_  plan until the eleventh hour."

  
  
_Familiar_  
Ka: "A wise decision, to start off with a weaker being."  
A: "Though that just drains your magic with no reward."  
Kensuke glared.  
A: "Other than people not dying."  
R: "Fighting a mere familiar would not drain as much power as a full blown Witch, I'd imagine."  
Sa: "Despite all the shit I got, I look damn fine in that outfit."  
Ky: "You know how to use a sword too."  
Sayaka snorted. "I wish. Though out of all the weapons I could pick, a sword seems alright. Get me nice and close."  
A: "Sounds like me, except with an axe."  
Ke: "And we all know how  _you're_  like. You make it  _rain_  blood."  
A chuckle. "I probably have a sweet nickname because of it, don't I?"  
Ke: "One of the recent ones I heard was 'Frau Blutregen'."  
She thought. And shrugged. "Eh, not that creative."

  
  
_But it was me, Kyoko!_  
Kyoko chuckled. "Here we go."  
Sa: "Funny thing was,  _we_  were kinda antagonistic as well."  
Ky: "At first."  
Sayaka giggled at that remark.  
A: "Even though both of you are polar opposites, at least in the show."  
Sa: "You know what they say about magnets."  
Sh: "All of the weapons they use seem wildly impractical."  
Ka: "Magic."  
R: "Indeed. Though I'm sure you could explain the mechanics behind that world if you looked hard enough into it."  
Sh: "Similar to our world then."  
Kyoko advanced further.  
A: "Sounds like you have similar thinking to me, Sakura."  
Ky: "At first, at least. You can see how I would think that, Grief Seeds  _are_  important after all."  
A: "Oh yeah. But people not dying is of importance as well."  
Ka: "I can understand her point of view, though. She's pragmatic. Like Akemi."  
R: "Maybe having such pragmatism is a  _requirement_  to survive for a long time as a magical girl."

  
  
_Civil War_  
Sh: "Still though, if they could work together, that would prevent many of the issues."  
A: "We'd know, eh Shinji?"  
Sh: "Even when we  _weren't_  close, we could at least clench our teeth and work together in battle. Eventually."  
R: "Obviously it's different in this other world."  
Sa: " _You_  try getting several teenage girls to work together without it turning to a catfight."  
Ka: "Which is another issue with the magical girls. They have little discipline in battle, and they let emotion get to them."  
Sh: "To be fair, we aren't entirely immune to that."  
A: "We channel emotion into  _violence_  on the battlefield."  
Ke: "...so  _thats_  why the Crucifix battle was like that."  
Kyoko glared. "Of course  _Kyubey_  takes the opportunity to try turning her."

  
  
"At least Homura put a stop to that." Spoke Kaworu. "She has a  _very_  good reason for wanting to protect Madoka."  
  
"You could say that again." Kensuke was flat.  
  
"When we found out," Sayaka began, "we had to take a small break to collect ourselves."  
  
"Yep, sounds like us too." Asuka had pursed lips. "I don't even remember how many times we had to stop watching our God damned show."  
  
"Usually we would've watched two episodes a day, but sometimes that would go down to  _one_  episode." Shinji reminisced.  
  
"...we didn't even catch the end of an episode, due to how... confronting it was for me."  
  
"...damn guys." The geek was quiet.  
  
"...if our  _show_  could trigger such emotion in us." Rei began.  
  
"Yeah, I know Rei." Ken dejected. "I know."  
  
The next episode started.  
~~~

 

##  This Just Isn’t Right

_Irregularity_  
Sa: "Good thing Homura stopped us, we would've torn each other to shreds."  
A: "She's still brutally cold, in the show."  
Ka: "That might as well be a thing for long surviving magical girls."  
Ky: "Kill or be killed, as they say."  
Sh: "At this rate, it would be for the best if Madoka took Akemi's advice. Probably run as far away from that city as she could as well."  
R: "Except she won't. Because Kyubey will keep trying. For any other person, he would've stopped trying, but obviously there's something with Madoka he wants."  
Ke: " _And_  because she's the main character in this story."  
R: "That too."  
~

  
  
_Renewal_  
Ka: "Certainly an interesting function of Kyubey."  
R: "It’s probable he can get energy from them. It would be an effective way of disposing them, at the very least."  
A: "Could be how he fuelled his own magic."  
Kyoko positioned her index and thumb close to each other. "You're  _this_  close."  
Ka: "What I find odd, is how this vessel of the soul requires a fuel."  
R: "Have they specified the Gem itself requires magic? The way Kyubey describes it, you only need to renew your magic if you  _use_  it."  
Kaworu thought. "Well, if I were to use the closest analogue we have to a Soul Gem is what the Angels had, but they're often used in conjunction with an S2 Organ."  _'Course, Eva. Core. Function no S2.'  
'Power required?'  
'Not our world.'_ Kaworu continued his train of thought in the real world. "Of course, the whole point of being a magical girl is to... well, use  _magic_. It's certainly possible that just keeping the Soul Gem active requires some latent magic energy."

  
  
_Faust_  
A: "See, what concerns me about that, is if those rings or gems actually  _do_  hold their soul."  
Ke: "I won't confirm or deny that."  
A: "Well, if it  _is_  their soul, then a magical girl is a fucking  _lich_ , like  _Rasputin_."  
The pilots glanced up and looked at Asuka, Rei especially had a dangerous look in her eyes. "You don't think, right?"  
A: "Oh I  _do_  think."  
Rei reigned herself in. "I assume it's Bluth's take on Rasputin, not the  _actual_  Rasputin."  
A: "Considering how long the Ruskies say it took him to die."  
The trio was rather confused at this though. "What's a lich?"  
Sh: "Have you guys seen Anastasia?"  
Ky: "Ana-what now?"  
A: "That's a no then." Flat. "They bind their existence to an object to obtain immortality."  
Ka: "Of course, you have the consequence of their bodies decaying, due to them _technically_ being dead."  
The trio looked on in shock, once they realised what a lich was. How she so easily picked apart what was such a big reveal to them.  
A: "Hopefully that's not  _actually_  a thing though." She dismissed flippantly. "I wouldn't want to wish that kind of existence on  _anyone_."  
R: "Not to mention how plain  _wrong_  that is."  
Sh: "It'd be great if Kyubey could stop manipulating for once."  
A: "See your father in him?" She prodded. "He would've been  _much_  less intimidating if he looked like a damned ferret."  
The pilots laughed amongst themselves. The trio meanwhile continued looking on at them. Probably wondering how fucked in the head the Evangelion makes their pilots.

  
  
_Dog Drug Reinforcement_  
Asuka snorted. "What an excellent rip."  
Sh: "D'ya think Akemi and Sakura will get into a dance off?"  
Asuka rolled eyes. "This isn't  _that_  kind of show."  
Shinji went flat. "Considering  _our_  show, and our  _life_  had something like that."  
Kensuke furrowed his brow. " _Your_  show had something like that as well?"  
Sh: "Not only that, we pretty much used a DDR machine to  _train_  for Israfel."  
Ke: "You WHAT?"  
The pilots burst out laughing, as Kensuke kept babbling.  
R: "It's quite interesting what can count as training. In retrospect, a DDR machine was quite a genius idea to foster teamwork."  
A: "Maybe if you just danced together, you would've actually been nice to each other! It worked in this Godforsaken world."  
Sh: "Wasn't Walpurgisnacht a holiday in Germany?" He queried Asuka  
A: "Not a  _state_  holiday, but it's still a feast day... What relevance does Walpurgisnacht have to this show?"  
Ka: "Odds are,  _Walpurgisnacht_  is the name of the Witch. Consider  _Gertrud_  and  _Kirsten_  were German as well."  
She groaned. "What’s with these mind bending anime and  _German_?"

  
  
_Voice of Reason_  
Sh: "Sometimes it feels like Madoka is the only voice of reason in this show."  
Sayaka chuckled. "Much like this world then. Though once you get to that stage, there's not really much 'reason' could do in such a situation."  
Ky: "True that. Of course, the thing to do is to  _avoid_  ending up hating someone so much you end up in a deathmatch."  
Sa: "We definitely don't have  _that_  problem."  
Ke: "The bedroom is practically a battle royale between the two of you anyway."  
A snort. "We do  _share_ , Ken."  
Ka: "Ah love. What a beautiful sound."  
A: "Putting aside the  _pillow talk_ , I'm starting to become a bit concerned about your mental health, Miki."  
Sayaka sucked in some air. "Yeah, not my finest hour. Probably could've been a bit more sensitive." She shrugged. "Not like I could do much though. Sucks observing, doesn't it?"  
Pilots: "Tell us about it."

  
  
_Welcome Home_  
A: "I would hope her mother was responsible enough to  _not_  feed Madoka  _alcohol_."  
Sa: "Madoka probably wouldn't touch the stuff anyway."  
Ka: "At the very least, she's talking about events with someone she could trust." A glance to Sayaka. "Considering she feels alienated from you."  
A sigh, shaking of the head. "One of the hardest parts of watching this was seeing how  _I_  did things. So many mistakes..."  
A: "We can relate, Miki." The pointer went up. "We pinpointed  _one_  event we screwed up in the show, which ultimately lead to our downfall."  
Ke: "...Mind if we know?"  
A: "My first kiss with Shinji."  
Silence.  
Ky: "The world ended because of an awkward kiss." Flat as a pancake, incredulous at the absurdity.  
A: "Yep. Everything now is apparently because  _we_  got together."  
More silence as they tried to process.  
A: "You're welcome."  
Sh: "Her mother has some decent advice, at least. Sometimes that's just life."  
Ka: "'Do something wrong', though?"  
R: "Sometimes such a thing is the best choice, you realise. If Shinji and Asuka didn't hijack Unit-03, I would've been pounded into nothing by Zeruel."  
Ke: "They WHAT?"  
A: "Is this foreshadowing then? Cause if she's been encouraged to do something wrong."  
Ky: "As she says though, making mistakes is easier when you're young."  
Sh: "Unless you're an Evangelion pilot." Snark.  
R: "Drinking to relieve the burden of adulthood. She really _is_ Misato."  
Chuckles.

  
  
_Rehabilitation_  
A: "Seems you were rather smitten with him, I can see why you and Hitomi fell out."  
Sayaka scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, it was kinda like that. Though if I stayed with him, I would've never found out how much I love Kyoko."  
Ky: "Funny how the world works like that, eh Sayaka?" A hand messed Sayaka's hair. "You definitely dealt with it better in  _our_ world."  
Sa: "Anything short of  _breaking the law_  is better than how I dealt with it."  
R: "That relationship trouble occurred in the show too?"  
Ky: "Not  _yet_ , but- oh, whoops that's a spoiler." She quickly tried to gloss it over.  
Shrugs in reply. "We probably have a few things clued in on anyway."

  
  
_Antagonism_  
Ka: "I suspect a fight is imminent."  
A: "Oh how could you tell? Could it be the two girls who fought to the death before are getting back at each other's throats?"  
Ka: "Yes." He retorted, equal in sarcastic intent.  
Sh: "That's a...  _very_  brutal way of forcing someone to be reliant on you. I swear I saw that in a horror film."  
Ky: "Yeah, I think every single one of us had a slight morality fart in this show."  
A: "Breaking arms and legs to force someone to stay with you is  _slight_?"  
Ky: "Okay, a bit more than slight."  
Ke: "'Bout the only person in this who's pretty much morally straight is Madoka herself."  
Sa: "Yeah, even  _I_  didn't entirely stay on the straight and narrow."

  
  
_Homework_  
Ke: "I wish I had a keyboard like that."  
A: "Even though it'd probably be completely useless."  
Ka: "I doubt she'll be using it for too much longer either way."  
Kyubey appeared.  
Ka: "And what do you know."  
Sh: "Lemme guess. He's gonna try pushing for her to become a magical girl."  
Ky: "As he's been doing for the whole show. Great surprise there."  
A: "You  _would_  know, you've already seen this."  
R: "Will this be where she makes her mistake, I wonder."  
Ka: "'If a gun is shown hanging on a mantle in the first act, it must be fired in the second'. I would believe so."  
Sh: "What could she do though, she isn't a magical girl."  
A: "Becoming a magical girl  _in and of itself_  would be a mistake."  
Thinking between the pilots. "That could work."  
The trio looked among themselves, for the pilots did not know.

  
  
_Throwaway_  
A: "Well, this is gonna be fun."  
Madoka ran in. Homura appeared behind Kyoko.  
Sh: "Especially with three magical girls."  
Sayaka simply facepalmed as Madoka made a slight error.  
Ka: "...well  _shit_."  
Sh: "That bad?"  
The show Sayaka fell catatonic.  
Or more accurately,  _dead_. Kyubey dropped the neutron bombshell.  
Asuka shuddered in shock, shared by the rest of the pilots. "...Jesus  _fuck,_  I was  _right_? They really  _are_  liches!"  
Kyoko scooted closer to Sayaka, as Madoka's desperate cries filled the room.  
Kaworu stared daggers at the visage of Kyubey. "...so this is what it means to become a magical girl."  
Rei's face fell to a serious flat, hands clenching into fists. Kaworu felt this from his wisp, and for but a moment he knew why the Angels feared Lilith.  
This anger only increased as Kyubey explained his thinking. "...why are humans so touchy with where he places their  _SOULS?!"_ Her volume  _also_  increased.

  
  
She got up. "I require a break. Or I will throw the computer through the wall."  
  
Kensuke was flat. "That was our reaction as well. Take your time."  
  
She grabbed Kaworu by his scruff and dragged him out.  
  
"...so  _that’s_  why you violently hate Kyubey."  
  
"One of the reasons." Sayaka was flippant. "I'm sure  _you_  hate him now too."  
~~~

  
  
Kaworu knew better than anyone when it was time to fold his cards. Especially when it involved a  _very angry Rei_.  
  
"Do you know of any place where I could let off some steam?"  
  
He thought, as he was being dragged. Honestly, being dragged by the scruff of his neck wasn't that bad, and it was the fact it  _wasn't that bad_  that concerned him. He could only hold out hope Rei didn't look down at him. "There's always that park on the outskirts. If you're looking for something destructible and private."  
  
"That works." She gave him a glance. And a double take, glaring at him. "... _really_?"  
  
He held his hands up. "You know I can't help it."  
  
More glaring. "Don't get too excited, dumb fish." He yelped as she ran faster.  
~~~

  
  
Splinters flew.  
  
Kaworu sat to the side, carving fallen wood into a trinket, putting it to  _some_  use while also keeping...  _subtle_.  
  
"It’s because of the soul, isn't it?"  
  
A tree fell. "You  _think_? How could that...  _thing_  just  _desecrate_  the soul like that?!" She kept going at a trunk with her AT-Field aided _fists_. "What  _he_  did, is a complete  _violation_  against every  _instinct_ , every damn  _nerve_  in my body." More splinters. "SEELE did  _vile_ things with the soul, but even they did not turn their quarry into a damned corpse  _doll_."  
  
"They would think that as abominable as you would, Rei. Perhaps even more so." He finished carving the figure. "Catch."  
  
It was thrown.  
  
She caught it, and immediately glared daggers at it, as she realised it was a near perfect, to scale model of Kyubey. "I can make more if you want, if you want something to release your anger on." A gentle smile. "Might as well use all that wood."  
  
The anger started to drain, as she further inspected this fine craft. "...it's really good actually." Quiet. "I didn't know you could do woodwork."  
  
"It's... difficult for me to craft like this. It relies a lot on creativity I can't muster. But I can always replicate what I see."  
  
"...but even making  _this_  from scratch indicates you have  _some_  sort of creativity, Kaworu. It may be Kyubey, but you were able to make it from a  _log_." Her hands grabbed his. "You  _created_  something _,_ Kaworu."  
  
He thought, his face gradually shifting to one of shock as he glanced down at the wooden figure. "I... created?"  
  
He continued looking down at the figure.  
  
He smiled. "I... I guess I did create this." A chuckle, or maybe a sob, escaped him. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me, Rei."  
  
Her hand drifted over his chest. "A part of me, maybe."  
  
Her anger now completely gone, she settled into him, panting from exertion.  
  
"It's a shame it had to be  _Kyubey_  of all things."  
  
There was silence for a few seconds, before Rei burst out laughing. "And to think I wanted to try setting it on fire with my mind."  
  
"...you can  _do_ that?"  
  
"Nope. But I wanted to see if I could try." She gave him a grin.  
~~~

  
  
"Y'know? If I wasn't trying to be polite around people I consider friends... well,  _most_  I consider friends, I would been making out with Shinji."  
  
"What do you think  _we'd_  be doing, Soryu?" Kyoko suggested to a fellow redhead.  
  
The two Nephilim made their way back into the room, Rei munching on a protein bar.  
  
"Feelin’ better?"  
  
" _Much_." She spoke with her mouth full. "I still want to murder Kyubey, but I can hold off on my destructive tendencies now I have calmed down."  
  
The next episode started as soon as Kensuke started up his computer again, because it started to overheat.  
~~~

 

##  Can You Face Your True Feelings?

_Luna_  
Sa: "This was the start of my downfall."  
Ka: "You just realised the truth Kyubey kept from you. You would feel mad, and somewhat regretful."  
A: "Classic. He may tell no lies, but he can always omit truths."  
Ke: "This is why you always read the terms of service."  
R: "If you asked Kyubey to print off a full list of that, it would number in the thousands. Of  _volumes_."  
Sh: "And I'm sure many magical girls wouldn't like what Kyubey did to them."  
Sa: "Oh hell no."  
R: "Turning people into  _liches_?"  
Her anger only increased further as Kyubey made an example of Sayaka, the temperature dropping one or two degrees.  
Ky: "Yeah, join the club Ayanami."  
Sh: "I think what makes him even worse, is his face literally never changes. It's always that same damn " He pressed his cheeks together and opened his eyes wide, making an odd sound, much to the humour of everyone there, "face."

  
  
_Tintinnabulation_  
A: "And despite all the shit, you  _still_  have to deal with school."  
R: "This is Japan after all. Anything short of apocalypse won't get you out of it."  
Kyoko pouted. "You guys get to skip all the time."  
A: "For one, we're pilots and need to be on call at all times. Two, we  _still_  have to do the work, though it's not really that difficult nowadays."  
Sh: "Still, Misato insists on those good grades."  
A: "Well, it's more important  _you_  get good grades, Shinji. I already graduated from uni, so it's not really that bad."  
Ke: "You WHAT?"  
R: "That's the third time you used that same expression, Kensuke."  
Sa: "...I  _definitely_  don't want to deal with school anymore."  
Ka: "...It's understandable, though. You're going through an immense crisis."  
R: "...as you would. Its abominable, removing the soul and placing it in a vessel like that."  
Sa: "Sounds like it goes against one of your major beliefs, Ayanami."  
She gave a thought. "You could say that."  
A: "Kyubey wouldn't give a shit though. He'd just say 'oh but it helps you', he seems completely  _incapable_  of emotion."  
Sh: "Like a sociopath. Pretty sure that's the right word to use."  
A: "Like he's fucking  _Satan_."

  
  
_Depression_  
Ky: "...man, it's still hard seeing you like this."  
Sa: "Sucks, doesn't it? Least you came to give me a pep talk."  
Ky: "I mean, it didn't help you much in the long run."  
A: "The feeling was there though. Although considering you two were damn near fighting to the death the  _last_  episode."  
R: "Considering feelings changed pretty much instantly, once... Kyubey."  
Sh: "...damn, you take wasting food pretty seriously, Sakura."  
Kyoko was introspective. "...I... never really had that much of it, growing up. My dad, despite his flaws, would work himself to the bone after Second Impact, but even so..."  
The pilots gave guilty glances between one another, as despite their many issues, they never had to go without something as basic as  _food_. "...shit, Sakura. We didn't know that."  
Ky: "It's fine." An exhale. "I survived. So, if you wanna know why I eat a lot. That's why."

  
  
_Church_  
Ka: "...is your father a religious man?"  
A nod. "Yeah. Even more so after Second Impact." She gave a wistful glance to Sayaka.  
A: "That... explains a lot, actually."  
Soft chuckling. "It’s an odd little religion. Christianity. It seems much bigger in other places though."  
Sh: "I mean, that's what _Asuka_ follows, and I think whatever Kaworu follows is in the same family."  
A: "At least in name. God shafted me pretty hard, and I'm still kinda angry at him."  
Kyoko snorted.  
Ka: "I wouldn't call it a belief in a single  _system_  like Christianity. I was taught belief in the God of  _Abraham_ , a figure shared by  _at least_  three major religious families,  _including_  Christianity."  
Ky: "Yeah, I heard of him. He's one of the major figures my father would preach about."  
Ka: "I would think a Christian preacher would focus more on the Gospel and the New Testament; considering Jesus of Nazareth taught kindness, acceptance and the forgiveness of God."  
A shrug in reply. "Mind you, his congregation attracts some pretty conservative folk. Either way,  _I_  wouldn't wish for people to listen to him."  
Sa: "Though your father in this show seemed to be more... open with his beliefs."  
Ky: "It's a dumb wish either way."  
R: "If he had found out about such a wish, or your status."  
Kyoko gave a glance. "Take a guess at what happens, blue."  
The show pre-empted any reply Rei could have.  
A: "...God  _damn_."  
Sh: "So that world has  _karma_?"  
Ka: "For a sum of hope, you get an equal amount of despair. Such is the Faustian deal."  
A: "At least you're trying to keep her from throwing herself off a cliff, Sakura. Not that it'd do much."  
Ky: "Even though our perspectives on life are radically different at this point."  
A: "Well yeah, considering all the shit you went through."

  
  
_Brand New Day_  
Sh: "I'm sure you would've been happy to see him."  
Sa: "...considering I think myself an abomination. A lich, as you call it. I wouldn't want him to find out."  
A: "Which is a problem, cause you wished for him to get better because you loved him."  
Sa: "Yep."  
Ka: "And I recall Sakura saying Hitomi will try for him, as what seemed to happen in  _this_  world."  
A sharp breath. "Yep."  
Ke: "Despair is such an easy trap to fall into as a magical girl."  
The pilots all collectively scrunched their faces as Hitomi revealed her crush. "Man that's tough."  
Sa: "This was pretty much how it started in  _our_  world as well."  
Ky: "It's kinda odd this show shared many similarities to our own lives. Except, y'know, the whole magical girl shit."  
A: "I gotta say though, she's being a good sport about it. At least  _this_  Hitomi, dunno bout the  _real_  one."  
Sa: "It's still an ultimatum though. And she wasn't  _this_  direct about it either."  
Sh: "You're not going to confess to him, are you?" He sighed. "Poor communication is what got  _us_  into problems."  
Sa: "Well, I sure know that  _now_."

  
  
_Breakdown_  
A: "Okay, I said before I was a _bit_ concerned about your mental state."  
Ky: "Where's the meter at now?"  
A: "Somewhere between 'Go see a damned therapist' and 'Legitimately thinking of calling emergency services'."  
Sayaka sighed. "That's pretty accurate."  
R: "At the very least, Madoka is continuing to at least  _attempt_  comfort." She masked surface emotion, as the show Sayaka broke down. "No one deserves that."  
Sa: "...yeah, losing your chance at someone you love is always tough."  
R: "While that is  _something_  no one deserves, I was referring to your status as a lich. Or a zombie, as you called yourself."  
Sa: "...you seem to know a bit about the soul, Ayanami. Are liches possible in our world?"  
R: "No." Succinct. "A body with no soul will quickly decay into nothing. A soul with no body will instinctively seek out a new shell to call home. This is what drives rebirth, after all." Internally, she felt disgusted with herself, omitting truth like Kyubey did. But Evangelion was one of the many secrets she could not just divulge.  
Ke: "...our world has  _souls_?"  
Ka: "Not only that, but we have  _scientific precedence_  for such a thing. The entire school of Metaphysical Biology is dedicated to such thing."  
Ke: "...fuck this world is weird."

  
  
_Elsa Maria_  
A: "At least you're not letting the emotion get to your head. It’s important to keep a level head in a battle situation."  
Sh: "Even though we  _do_  let emotion get to our heads sometimes."  
A: "But we've learnt to channel that emotion into  _anger_  towards our enemies."  
Ka: "I must say, I love the art style used in Elsa Maria."  
Ky: "Oh yeah, the silhouettes? I thought that was pretty cool too."  
A: "It would've been much cheaper to make, but whoever made this made it  _work_."  
R: "It seems you're channelling your emotion into anger towards the enemy as well, Miki."  
A: "Yeah, the bloodshed can do that to you." An offhand remark. "Though who knows, maybe I'm just a violent psychopath." Sayaka continued tearing the Witch to shreds. "Okay, maybe you  _are_  letting emotion get to you."  
Sa: "...it's still really weird seeing myself be that way. I know you lot can be...  _bloody_ , but I'm certainly not."

  
  
"Well, it's not like you pilot giant mechs against blood factories." Asuka was flat. "Though even  _if_  you didn't completely eviscerate the enemy, there would always be blood."  
  
"...yeah, I don't think I'd be able to do blood." Sayaka was quiet. "I get queasy just  _thinking_  about it."  
  
"Maybe you could get on the bridge crew then." Shinji suggested. "Gods know NERV is always in need of new hires."  
  
"And considering NERV provides around 80% of the careers in the city, it seems like an obvious choice." Rei continued. "Pay could be better, though the benefits are great compared to most other jobs."  
  
"Well, I'm sure there'd be other things to consider before working for NERV." Kensuke of all people suggested some caution, even though he definitely wouldn't mind, even in a non-pilot role.  
  
"Dental is free, you can get two prescription lenses for free every four years, and a part of your pay packet automatically goes into a superannuation."  
  
"I'm sold."  
  
The pilots chuckled. "That was easy."  
  
The next episode flowed on from the previous.  
~~~

 

##  I’m Such a Fool

_Khorne_  
Sa: "I was kinda confused on why no one really tried stopping me, considering the witch is already pretty dead."  
A: "Would  _you_  want to get in the way of a madwoman and her quarry?"  
Sayaka thought. "Fuck no."  
A: "Smart."  
Ka: "And not even taking the Grief Seed for yourself."  
R: "Considering how exhausted you are, I suspect that was not a wise decision."  
Kyoko glared. "You could backtrack  _every_  major decision made in this show and argue they were not wise."  
Sh: "Like  _our_  show."

  
  
_Rain Come Down_  
Ky: "...poor Madoka, didn't deserve _any_ of this shit."  
Sa: "None of us did. Being turned into a corpse like that."  
R: "Needless to say, if Kyubey existed in this world, he wouldn't exist for long. And I would make sure of it."  
Ke: "Man, that soul thing really struck a nerve, didn't it?"  
She glared, and he backed down.  
Ka: "I think Miki's sanity has gone plummeting past where it last was."  
Sa: "An apt summary."

  
  
_Akemi_  
A: "She has an even nicer apartment than  _Tomoe_  had."  
Ka: "What do you even call that styling anyway? It looks very... flat."  
Kensuke shrugged. "Looks sorta futuristic."  
Sh: "We still don't know how  _Akemi_  knows about  _Walpurgisnacht_."  
R: "The way Sakura implied it,  _Walpurgisnacht_  is a common witch, or at least one that sprouts up occasionally."  
A: "Of course, Miki might become a problem. That's what the black blob on your Soul Gem was, right? A curse?"  
Sa: "Pretty sure it was." She sighed.  
Ke: "Or depletion. As it seems a magical girl requires magic to exist."  
Sh: "Well that's gonna be great. And knowing  _this_  show, the worst possible scenario is gonna happen."  
R: "She dies? I would expect something like that, unfortunately."  
The trio uncomfortably looked among themselves for yet another time.

  
  
_Confession_  
Sa: "And here we see the last of my sanity fly out the window."  
Sh: "That was pretty much my reaction to  _my_  downfall as well."  
A: "That's pretty harsh though, seeing her with Kyosuke. Would've completely devastated you."  
Sayaka shrugged. "In comparison to the shit you guys seemed to go through."  
A: "It's still a burden though, isn't it? Plus, you can't really compare an Evangelion pilot to a regular civvy. Intense emotional burden is part and parcel of everyday life as pilots."  
Ke: "Also gives you guys a warped sense of humour."  
Ka: "Humour is one of the healthiest methods of dealing with such emotion."  
Ky: "I would think a  _therapist_  would be pretty great as well."  
The pilots gave a collective laugh. "You're getting it now, Sakura."  
Ky: "...wait, do you guys seriously not have  _any_  therapists at NERV?"  
R: "NERV and their pilots are privy to some of the most important secrets of this world, something that simply cannot be divulged."  
A: "It's tough shit, I know. So instead, we do self-therapy."  
Ke: "Which consists of?"  
Asuka gave a goggly eyed look to Shinji.  
Ke: "Oh."

  
  
_Corruption_  
Sa: "I can't believe sh-  _I_  was able to be this  _dense_  in the show."  
Ka: "You already appear to be far gone, unfortunately. Whatever the consequence is of a corrupted Soul Gem, I fear that will happen to you."  
A: "I must say, that's the first time I've seen Akemi appear  _shocked_. You know things are getting bad when  _she's_  surprised."  
Ky: "Obviously this wasn't supposed to happen."  
Sh: "It still ties back into Madoka though. What's with her obsession?"  
Ke: "All will-"  
A: "-be revealed, yes we know."  
Ka: "It's obvious she loves her, though. Similar to what you describe of  _this_  Akemi."  
Sa: "Well, yeah. Madoka is her closest friend. Well, even  _closer_  now."  
Sh: "Hang on, where'd she get a  _flashbang_  from?"  
A: "Maybe she has a similar power to Tomoe, which is pretty fucking awesome."

  
  
_Midnight Train_  
All the women and men present gave a glare to match Ramiel's beam at the screen, increasing the temperature of the computer by a couple degrees.  
A: "See, _this_ is why I threw all those boys into trash cans when I first moved here."  
R: "I would probably give those dogs a few minutes or so in a bucket."  
Ky: "Sounds similar to what Asuka would do."  
R: "In a sense."  
Ka: "I still find it odd how someone could think like that."  
Kensuke gave a shrug. "What can I say? Humans are assholes. Many of them at least."  
A: "Like the bastards who invaded NERV."

  
  
_Iblis_  
Sh: "Kyubey has power to make magical girls, but not  _undo_?"  
R: "What incentive  _would_  he have to undo such a thing? It's obvious whatever his machinations are revolves around magical girls."  
Sa: "Odds are he would never do such a thing anyway, even if he  _could_."  
A: "And of course, Satan continues to try forming a pact with Faust."  
Ka: "As he has tried since the beginning. A less determined being would've given up by the third episode."  
R: "His persistence indicates something special about Madoka, I would think."  
Sa: "Power beyond what  _Kyubey_  considered possible? Of course he would be persistent."  
A: "Madoka, out of all people?"  
Ke: "She  _is_  the protagonist of this show, after all. I'm sure whoever was the protagonist of your show had events revolve around them."  
Sh: "Yeah, that's fairly accurate. Although Asuka and Rei  _also_  had events revolve around them."  
A: " _Especially_  Rei."  
Ka: "Although, much like Madoka, you ended up with immense power."  
Sh: "That my mind was too broken to use effectively." He scorned. "And I expect that to be the same with Madoka, considering how this show's been like."  
A: "This is _exactly_ like Fau-"

  
  
_Beretta_  
Kyubey had a baker’s dozen bullets  _instantly_  driven through him.  
Asuka was practically giddy with the violence of Kyubey's apparent demise. "Holy  _shit_ , Akemi!"  
Kyoko gave a wide, almost sinister smile. "Yeah, that was pretty satisfying."  
R: "Quite satisfying indeed. If it wasn't obvious before that she's doing all this to prevent Madoka becoming a magical girl."  
Ke: " _Killing_  the being that does that whole thing would send quite a clear message, I imagine."  
Ka: "...she appears quite desperate to prevent such a thing. Akemi has completely lost her regular cool."  
R: "...she must love her. But they haven't met... wait a minute." Gears clicked in her head. "If she can control time. What are the chances she's an interloper?"  
Kaworu's eyes widened. "It's certainly possible."  
A: "Wait, Kyubey's a  _hive_?" She cringed at how Kyubey ate itself.  
R: "So it  _is_  time manipulation."  
Sh: "Not only that, but full on  _timeline hopping_."  
Kaworu grew even more confused. "That would answer several questions in that world. But that just raises  _further_  questions for  _me_."  
Sa: "...oh yeah, you remember  _seeing_  Homura, do you?"  
Ky: "Maybe  _our_  Homura skips timelines on the side."  
R: "...incubator." She thought, internally collaborating with Kaworu.

  
  
_Conturbatio_  
Sayaka scooted closer to Kensuke and Kyoko, and the pilots knew that this scene would be a tough one.  
R: "...you're falling further into despair."  
Ka: "...even in  _our_  world, too much despair, or Destrudo, will wreak havoc on the soul."  
A: "...jeez, you're  _really_  far gone, Miki."  
Sa: "...this will be the last you see of her. as her."  
Her Soul Gem was revealed. Rei felt shock and concern at the sight of this poor unfortunate soul.  
Kaworu shared this concern, even without feeling Rei. "...what happens when a Soul Gem gets completely corrupted?"  
Quiet from the trio.  
Slowly, with dread, he turned his head back to the screen.

  
  
_I really was an idiot_

Sayaka was no more.

The realisation finally dawned on Rei, what  _Incubator_  really meant. "oh  _fuck_."  
That it came from  _Rei_  shocked the trio.  
Ke: "...now you know, Nagisa."  
Kaworu was shocked silent.  
Sayaka leaned harder into Kyoko.  
Kyubey dropped yet another neutron bomb from the tower.  
A: "...Majo. Kyubey, you magnificent son of a bitch."

  
  
"...so a Witch is the final stage of a magical girl." Kaworu finally spoke, quiet.  
  
"...he's  _evil_." Shinji spat out.  
  
"...truly a Faustian deal. You were right, Asuka." Rei, oddly calm, intoned, as she stood. "We will continue tomorrow, correct?"  
  
Kensuke nodded, holding a distressed Sayaka to his side.  
  
"We shall make our leave then."  
  
They did just that.  
  
Once they left, Sayaka broke down.

* * *

 

From outside the closed door, Rei was first to speak.  
  
"I am going to  _skin Kyubey alive_  for the desecration he has done."  
  
"Yeah, I knew that whole lich thing would make you react like that, Rei." Asuka completely understood. "Kyubey really _is_ Satan, isn't he?"  
  
"I'm pretty sure it was a regular demon in Faust. But the overall moral is still the same." Kaworu kept his cool, despite what happened. "It leads me to believe that this show is an interpretation of Faust."  
  
"But  _who_  is Faust in that show? Cause each and every magical girl in existence would've had to have sold their soul to the devil known as Kyubey."  
  
"That's your answer.  _Every_  magical girl is Faust."  
~~~

  
  
"Wark!"  
  
"From that cartoon? But he's a  _criminal!_ "  
  
"Wa-wark wark!"  
  
Misato rested her head on her hand. "Yes, Feathers McGraw is a genius mastermind, but that doesn't remove the fact he  _kidnapped_  Wallace to  _steal_   _a diamond_."  
  
"Wa-kark."  
  
"And you look up to him, great." She deadpanned, putting on her sarcasm. "You should cosplay as him sometime, if you like him so much."  
  
The penguin thought, and returned to his fridge for a dozen seconds, emerging with what appeared to be a small gardening glove on his head.  
  
She gave him a flat look, trying to stay serious but said facade was failing rapidly. "I'm not drunk enough for this shit."  
  
"We aren't either." Asuka deadpanned, causing Misato to jump from her seat and make a sound similar to Pen-Pen. "Sounds like a very enlightening conversation."  
  
"Wark." The penguin went for one of  _Asuka_ 's beers and returned to his fridge, to a very exasperated Asuka.  
  
"Soooo," A can thumped down on the table. "How was the show?"  
  
"Let’s just say, if you can get  _Rei_  angry, then you should probably reconsider your stance on things."  
  
"Oh Jesus, what happened?"  _Now_  Misato was curious.  
  
Shinji thought. "Let’s just say, the price of becoming a magical girl is to become a... what's it called again, Asuka?"  
  
"A lich."  
  
"Yeah, that."  
  
"Lich... remind me again what that kind of creature is?"  
  
"Their soul gets placed into a physical vessel, but they can still control their body. It's a form of immortality, as long as the vessel isn't damaged."  
  
Misato thought through various films. "Like in Anastasia, right?"  
  
"Essentially, except their bodies weren't rotting."  
  
A sharp exhale. "Gotta say, that's a different take on a magical girl than what  _I_  know. Fucking litches..." She took a swig of her beer.  
  
"What about those same magical girls eventually becoming the Angel like enemy they fight?"  
  
She choked on her beer, eventually composing herself after a coughing fit. "How does that even  _work_?"  
  
"As Kaworu would say, the mechanisms of that world would be different, even more so than even our  _Theatrical_  universe."  
  
"Tell me about it." Shinji deadpanned, beginning work on dinner. "But it’s yet another world where people Miki and Sakura know and love get shafted."  
  
"Good to know we aren't the only people God shits on." Misato finished off the beer. "Didja tell Miki and Sakura about Tomoe?"  
  
There were a few seconds of silence, eventually broken by the thud of Asuka's head on the desk. "Fuck, I forgot to tell them."  
~~~

  
  
A hand drifted over a chest. "Did ya project last night?"  
  
"Yeah." A chuckle. "All the identifiers were there. The green boy. The nightmare."  
  
"The purple eyed girl?"  
  
"Yeah." Eyes closed. "I think she noticed me."  
  
"...how so?"  
  
"...I'd liken it to that apparition of you from the Laserdiscs. She flared. I flared back. She disappeared."  
  
"...do you think that's the Akemi of  _that_  show?"  
  
"...could be." Looking into other red eyes. "She follows the same path every time."  
  
Thinking. "She's trying to change something, if that is indeed time."  
  
"Something to do with Madoka."  
  
"...Most likely." Settling in. "It’s interesting what you see, Kaworu. It’s like another realm."  
  
A smile. "I could show you."  
  
Hands clasped and merged. Kaworu opened his mind up and allowed himself to drift. "Open your mind, and hold on tight."  
  
She did j _u_ st t _ha_ t.

  
  
_The sound of a singular drop of water impacting on a still lake signified a transition from the physical to the metaphysical. A transition Rei did not expect to be as calm.  
  
Rei held onto Kaworu tight, as she bore witness to a star stuttered sky, aurora and nebula painting the canvas. In her awe, she likened it to a heaven.   
  
She took in her surroundings, and expressed shock at the simulacrum of her that populated this strange place.  
  
"Do not worry." His wisp. "They are natural phenomena. I suspect from other, less fortunate timelines."  
  
"They harmful?"  
  
"No. They will not disturb us."  
  
With his free hand, he pointed out beyond their border, towards other, distant isles. They almost seemed to move closer as he focused. "The green boy. Every 72 seconds, he makes his journey. This journey is always marked with an almost melancholic tune."  
  
She observed. She thought it curious, how he always followed the same pattern.   
  
The next. "The nightmare. They don't have a pattern, but I suspect they use this realm for their own, unknown, purpose."  
  
She observed. A seemingly regal figure, obviously of a high power quotient if they were able to occupy and use this realm for their own agenda.  
  
The next. "The girl with purple eyes."  
  
She observed. Black hair, purple eyes. Shield. Walking. A complete dead ringer of Homura Akemi, as depicted in the show.  
  
She stopped, and looked.   
  
Rei flared to this figure.   
  
The figure stood still, before hastily moving on her way. The Nephilim could sense an air of apprehension.   
  
"Odd."  
  
"Indeed, but this realm is odd."  
  
Craning her head, she looked further around. "How do you see into timelines?"  
  
A smile. "I'll show you."  
  
He bent down, to the ground, resting his free hand on the alien surface. One quick application of his AT-Field later, and they caught a glimpse of days gone by._  
  
"We can certainly  _try_ , Commander." Shinji teased, as he picked up one of the fallen MP-Evangelion's weapons and lobbed it at another, dazing it.  
  
Asuka roundhouse kicked the dazed MP-Eva and proceeded to dismember it, which kept it immobilised. They  _could_  regenerate, so Asuka usually only had a good half minute to remove the dummy plug and completely disable the MP-Eva. But she worked fast with that prog knife of hers.  
  
She haphazardly threw the plug to Hikari like a fumbling relay runner, who set it down against a building for recovery.  
  
"Asuka, can you please  _not_  completely tear this one to shreds? Major Ibuki's gonna be sick."  
  
_"I remember this. We weren't sortied that time, but I remember it."  
  
"Indeed. It's relatively close to prime _and _time." His free hand pointed out. "The further out you go, the more energy it takes. But you can_ look _further out. Including into_ other _timelines. Unfortunately, even_ with _the S2 Organ, I do not have enough power to look into other_ universes _."  
  
"Fascinating." Genuine awe, as the playback ended.   
  
The distant song restarted, as an apparition of Rei was shooed away by Kaworu.  
  
They wandered aimlessly for a few minutes more, Rei_ and  _Kaworu expressing extreme confusion at a phone box trailing the sky like a meteor, before Rei signalled to Kaworu: "I think I am ready to return."  
  
"Lets. I believe I am draining energy faster than usual." Kaworu was able to hide his lethargy well enough.   
  
Just as he was about to exit with Rei, something caught his eye.  
  
Or, _someone _.  
  
A girl. Of brown hair and ashen skin.  
  
But just like a flash of lightning, she was gone as soon as he looked.   
  
"What is it, Kaworu?"  
  
"...I think I saw someone."  
  
"...who?"  
  
"I... don't know. But... they had our complexion."  
  
Thinking. "Another person like us? In our general timeline?"  
  
"...potentially." Shaking of the head. "I _would _say they won't be of any importance."  
  
"Knowing this world though."  
  
They chuckled as they ret_u _r_ n _e_ d to the physical world.  
  
Rei noted Kaworu was breathing heavily. "Is everything alright, darling?"  
  
Weary nodding in reply, with a smile. "I think bringing you along with me used more energy than I could naturally replenish. I'll survive though. Nothing a bit of rest won't fix." He quickly settled into Rei and fell asleep almost immediately.  
  
A few quiet giggles from Rei. "You stupid trout, exhausting yourself for me..."  
  
She drifted her hand over him until she, too, fell asleep.

* * *

 

 


	3. EPM 3

* * *

 

A girl woke with a start. Panting, tears welling in her eyes.  
  
"...h-Homu? Everything alright?" She went for a lamp.  
  
"I... don't know."  
  
A worried look was painted on the pink haired girl. "A nightmare again?"  
  
It wasn't the first time the black haired, purple eyed girl experienced such thing. She usually didn't remember any  _exact_  details, though that dream, that damned dream of hers. There were some parts she couldn't forget.  
  
"...i think it was. it had all the same stuff in it. only..." She froze. Her breathing became more laboured as she remembered.

  
  
_"...i guess this is the end for us."  
  
She looked towards her. The battle was over, and they were victorious. It was a pyrrhic victory however, as they laid dying.   
  
That was enough, though. "...how about we become monsters together? Let’s rid this world of all its sorrow, and just destroy until all is dust."  
  
She was healed. Madoka had one j(#jv mc$nd left, that idiot. "W-why didn't you use it for yourself?"  
  
"...because I need you to do something I can't, Homura." Tears welled in her eyes. "...i want you to go back and save me... before I get fooled by N(#mv~... can you do that?"  
  
"I promise!" Suddenly shouting, emotions welling up. "I'll save you, no matter what!"  
  
A sad smile. "I'm glad..." _

_Madoka suddenly writhed in pain. "...Homura. I want... one more thing."_

_  
"...yeah?"  
  
"...i don't want to become a ^|/r@."_

  
  
" _Homura_!" A desperate, fearful shout brought her back. "Is it your heart again?"  
  
Her eyes opened, and stared right into the deep pinks of her closest friend.  
  
How could she even look into those eyes, knowing what she had to do.  
  
She wailed, as Madoka wrapped her up in a desperate embrace. "Homura..."  
  
"...why do i keep dreaming this." she pleaded through the tears. "...why.."  
  
The pink haired girl desperately tried being her rock as she broke. "...Mami, maybe."  
  
That remark didn't help much, so she just kept holding.  
  
Mami had survived the accident. Barely. The only one who did, in fact; the paramedics thought it a miracle she lived long enough to be loaded into the ambulance.  
  
If you could even call her state living.  
  
The grief for their friend had bought them even closer to one another. Homura had never been a strong individual; mentally _and_ physically, and her family situation only made things worse. Madoka herself had always dealt with a persistent lack of self-worth and sadness, even when she should be happy. It only got worse after Sayaka and Kyoko left with her folks for Tokyo-3, and Mami's accident.  
  
But when she's with Homura. Someone just like her, one of her few friends left. Things seemed to be a bit easier.  
  
Madoka thought her so lucky to have such an understanding family. Both of her mental state and of her... unique relationship with Homura, considering what this country was like when it came to both.  
  
At hours like these, though, the only ones they have for comfort are themselves.  
~~~

  
  
"Hey, Mr Kaname." Sayaka spoke into  _Kensuke's_  home phone.  
  
_"Oh, Miki!"_ He sounded happy to hear her voice, at least. _"Didn't recognise your number. It's been a while, anything going on in Tokyo-3?"_  
  
"Same old near world ending bull, y'know the drill." Flippant, but this guise fell to a timid serious. "...how's Madoka?"  
  
Silence over the line. A sigh emerged from the other end.  _"...she's really been struggling lately. I know It’s been a while since your folks brought you and Sakura over to Tokyo-3, but she still misses you."_  
  
"...I know, sir." A sad concession. "My folks said I could go over to Nagano for a week during the break, after Christmas Day, catch up with her y'know. I told Kyoko and Kensuke about it, they might come too."  
  
_"...we'd be happy for you to stay at our place if you wanted, Miki. I'm sure Madoka and Homura would love it as well."_  Another, sad sigh.  _"They could use something like that."_  
  
"...I'm sure Madoka will stay strong. If not for herself, then for Homura."  
  
A sad chuckle.  _"Yeah. You know what happened, didn't ya?"_  
  
"...madoka doesn't really talk about it over the phone. she just kinda goes quiet and i change the subject."  
  
More silence. He took a breath.  _"...Tomoe survived. But..."_ He was obviously apprehensive.  
  
"...how bad is it?"  
  
_"...she's..."_  
  
The phone threatened to drop from her hand as she was told. A sob escaped her as she slumped against the wall, the headset cable straining to keep attached.  
  
_"...i'm so sorry, Miki. I know you're friends with Tomoe too." Sayaka could clearly hear his troubled breath. "it’s really sapped at the both of them. Gods, I wish I could do more. This past year has been so hard. on Madoka and Homura. on all of us."_  
  
"...what happened?" She was quiet as a mouse, desperately trying to maintain composure.  
  
_"...are you sure you can handle it, Miki? It sounds like you're right on the verge of-"_  
  
"I need to know, alright! I... sorry. I... i've been an idiot to neglect what’s been going on with her."  
  
_"...it's alright."_ A wistful sigh.  _"I'll fill you in._ "  
  
Madoka's father went on length, pausing every now and again to allow Sayaka some composure. Mami's accident. Homura's falling out with her family over matters related to Madoka, and her subsequent heart attack from the stress of it all.  
  
The Kaname family taking in Homura with open arms, knowing full well of her relationship with Madoka, knowing full well of Homura's own health problems. A complete collapse in both of their grades. Mental health struggles that no one knew how to deal with, including Homura's recent night terrors.  
  
Even his wife's throwing herself into her work, seemingly as to try dealing with it all. It was like he just wanted to say  _something_ about it, to get it off his chest…  
  
It was downright depressing for Sayaka to learn of all this, how her own life was so great in comparison to one of her closest friends.  
  
_"...now you know. I'm sorry Madoka didn't tell you about all this. I think she didn't want you to fuss about it."_  
  
"...that sounds like her." More sobbing. "damn it. how did i not know about all this..."  
  
_"...don't blame yourself, Miki. That's the last thing Madoka would want."_  
  
"...can i speak with her?"  
  
Silence.  _"...i'll check."_  
  
The line went silent for a minute.  
  
_"...sayaka?"_  
  
A sad smile grew on her face, as she buried emotion. "Heya Madoka. I'm so sorry I haven't rung in a while."  
  
_"It's fine, Sayaka."_ She sounded melancholic.  _"How's it going over there? I heard N-"_  
  
"Shh! You'll get disconnected if you say their name."  
  
_"Oh. Huh,_ they _did something big recently."_  
  
"Oh, same old Gundam Godzilla stuff it’s been for the past couple years." She was pretty flippant with the whole risk to her life it’s all been. "Almost like this city is set in some odd anime."  
  
That got the other girl laughing.  _"My mother was_ always _against going to that city, even though it sounds completely magical."_  
  
"...she has a point, I suppose. Though I'm sure your mother's quite happy with her job in Tokyo-2, isn't she?"  
  
_"Happy? She pretty much_ overthrew _the previous CEO! I don't think my family has been this well off since ever."_  
  
Laughter rung from both ends. "Sounds like things aren't so bad."  
  
_"Yeah... Sayaka?"_  
  
"...yeah?"  
  
_"...why is it that things can be so good for us... but I still feel so... empty."_  
  
That stopped her dead in her tracks, as all that Madoka's father told her suddenly sprung to mind. "...i don't know, Madoka."  
  
_"...i miss you, y'know. just seeing you and Kyoko and... Mami, doing stuff, y'know?"_ Madoka was quiet, obviously straining under emotion.  _"I love Homura... but her heart. She can't push herself as hard as we can. not to mention all the stuff that's happened this year."_  
  
"...i've heard. I'm so sorry, Madoka..."  
  
Sniffles over the phone.  _"...so he told you then... it's alright. i should've told you..."_  
  
"...I can understand why you didn't want to be reminded of that, though."  
  
_"Mhm... it's... hard. so... so hard, Sayaka. sometimes I wish I could just make all these problems went away."_  
  
That hit a nerve, but she could mask it well enough for her friend. "yeah... i can relate with that, Madoka. but you know what they say about wishes."  
  
_"...yeah, I know. be careful what you wish for and all that."_  A sigh.  _"though... i do wish i could see you guys again."_  
  
For once, Sayaka was able to provide some good news to this poor soul. "...That might come true, at least. My folks said I can go to Tokyo-2 for a week after Christmas, and Kyoko and Kensuke asked their folks too."  
  
_"Really? That sounds wonderful, Sayaka!"_ Sayaka was internally surprised at her turnaround. But then again, she just told her wistful friend she will see them again soon. Madoka's voice suddenly became hushed.  _"Kensuke is the guy you share with Kyoko, right?"_  
  
A snicker. "Yeah, though we  _do_  both love him as we love each other." Equally low in volume, "Are you  _suggesting_  something, Madoka?"  
  
Feigned shock, trying to hold in laughter.  _"I would_ never _be that scandalous, Sayaka!"_  
  
That was around the time she burst into laughter as well, lasting a good dozen seconds before they finally settled down. "I can't wait to see you again."  
  
_"I can't wait either. It's been far too long, Sayaka."_ Madoka sounded happy. Sayaka let loose a few tears at this realisation.  _"I hope to see you then."_  
  
"Don't worry, you will." A sigh. "I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
_"Alright Sayaka, bye!"_  
  
"Bye Madoka."  
  
The phone clicked off. Sayaka just sat there, listening to the off hook tone from the dangling headset. While the call definitely ended in a much less depressing way, the first part was still there, sitting in her mind like a jagged piece of steel.  
  
But, she didn't cry, at least not yet. All she felt was a deep, depressing melancholy. While most people would consider it a crock of shit they couldn't live in the same city, Sayaka completely understood why the Kaname family would stay where they are. They're well off where they are, and Homura needs as much support as she could get, especially now. Not to mention... Mami.  
  
A door opened, carrying a bag of foodstuffs was Kyoko, who very nearly tripped over the still slumped Sayaka. "Whatcha doing on the floor there?"  
  
"...I was just speaking with Madoka."  
  
Kyoko froze, the bags dropping suddenly onto the table. "...how is she?" Her tone completely changed.  
  
"...she still sounds sad. But I told her I'm coming over for a week, with maybe you and Ken as well. That cheered her up a bit."  
  
The redhead put the phone back on its hook, and sat down next to her bluenette. "God knows she could use that sort of cheer in her life."  
  
"Yeah... especially since the way her dad described, this year was really bad for them."  
  
Kyoko gave her a look. "...well, there was Mami."  
  
"...not only that." A sigh. "poor Homura."  
  
A look of panic grew on Kyoko's face, as she connected some dots. "...oh _Christ_ is she alright? I know she has that-"  
  
A hand went up, seeking to quell the flare. "Yeah. It sounds like she's alright. Though she's living with the Kaname's now."  
  
"Why would sh-" A glass shattered in her mind. "Oh  _shit_."  
  
"Yeah..." Sayaka rested her head on Kyoko's shoulder, seeking a hand. "I hope you can come over with us."  
  
"Hopefully. Knowing my pops though."  
  
"...you'll look after Ken if neither of you can come over, right?"  
  
"Pssh, don't worry about him." She gave her an amorous look and teased, clearly aiming to cheer her up. "I won't wear him out."  
  
A small giggle. "...Maybe I'll just have to wear  _you_  out if you two can't come along." They went to kiss, before Sayaka suddenly stopped. "Actually, where  _is_  Kensuke?"  
  
Furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. "...I vaguely recall hearing him say he was going out early. Not sure what time it was, all I know is I wasn't wearing much and wanted to go back to sleep." A small smirk. "Do remember him kissing me before he left, at least, the sweet stooge."  
  
"Soryu rubbing off on you, Kyoko?"  
  
Clattering outside the house, and the shouting of someone they knew well, indicated there may be someone at the door.  
  
"Hey guys, I found a few more of these computers!"  
  
Carrying said computers were their friends. Shinji was obviously straining with one and had to employ the help of Asuka, whereas Rei and Kaworu carried  _multiple_ , to their awe. "What the hell do they put in these machines!? Concrete?"  
  
"Oh it's not so bad, Asuka. This can be considered our workout for the day." Kaworu, ever calm, softly spoke.  
  
"I know for a fact you two  _work out_  every  _night_. You're lucky there's no one else living in our apartments, the only mail going through your door would be  _noise complaints_!"  
  
"It's not  _every_  night, Asuka. Just a large majority of them."  
  
Meanwhile the puella and their boyfriend were laughing their asses off at the way the pilots all bounced off one another. "Man you guys are odd."  
  
"Being odd makes life so much  _fun_  though. Oh shi-" Asuka's hand slipped and dropped the workstation, it bouncing off the pavement instead of crumpling into the million pieces she expected it to. "Okay, just what the hell _are_ they made out of?"  
~~~

  
  
"It's one more disc, right?" Shinji queried.  
  
"Yeah, but I would say  _this_  one is the most emotionally debilitating."  
  
"Quite a feat, considering the previous episodes." Rei deadpanned.  
  
"I don't know  _how_  it's possible there was another thing out there that was  _more_  debilitating than  _our_  anime."  
  
"Then again, how is it possible we saw our anime to begin with, Asuka?"  
  
"Touché, Kaworu. I don't even expect a happy ending anymore when it comes to any Rift material."  
  
"Jeez, those previous ones you watched-"  
  
"Were really that bad, yes Sakura."  
  
"You shouldn't be pessimistic, Soryu. There's always hope." Kensuke jokingly chided.  
  
" _Hope_  is what got the magical girl into their situation in the first place, you realise."

* * *

 

#  Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Disc 3

 

 **Character key** :  
Shinji (Sh) Asuka (A)  
Rei (R) Kaworu (Ka)  
Kensuke (Ke) Sayaka (Sa) Kyoko (Ky)

 

##  I’ll Never Allow That

 _Oktavia_  
Sayaka grumbled.  
Sh: "Annoying when they replay the traumatic scene from last episode, ain't it?"  
Ka: "...so this is your Witch form."  
A: "You can't undo turning into a Witch, can you?"  
R: "I would doubt it. It seems like such a fundamental change, it would be borderline impossible to piece together the soul of who they once were."  
Ke: "It gives you a new lens about Witches though, since now you know they're all former magical girls."  
R: "...indeed it does. At least we never turned into Angels after falling into despair."  
_'I almost.'  
'You're special case.'_  
Sa: "At the very least, you thought to respect my shell."  
Ky: "...she probably didn't want you to be forgotten. Like... Mami."  
Sayaka gave a downward glance.  
A: "Oh yeah, Misato did a search. She's alive, but she doesn't know much more than that."  
The puella gave a glance at her. "...we know."  
Asuka had a confused look, later collapsing to one of dread as the gears clicked. "...how bad is she?"  
They simply looked at her in silence.  
A: "...god damn it, she got shafted in this world too?"  
~

  
  
_Solitude_  
R: "...Madoka doesn't know, does she? That Madoka."  
Ky: "...Not yet."  
Sa: "...she's gonna find out soon though."  
She gave a long sigh as Madoka was told.  
A: "...jesus. There's only so much that poor girl could go through, right?"  
Ke: "There'll be quite a bit more."  
Sh: "It's the  _ninth_  episode though, they're gonna have to compress all the trauma into these next few episodes."  
Ka: "All focused on Madoka. I doubt she would enjoy watching this show."  
Sa: " _We_  didn't enjoy watching the show." She said flat. "Homura's probably the same."  
Ky: "Though if we could figure out a way to lug Ken's computer to Nagano, we might be able to show them."  
Sa: "Kyoko, Homura would have a damn  _heart attack_  if she watched this."  
A: "Bit hyperbolic, but I'm sure she wouldn't have a great time watching this either way."  
The puella glared at the candle.  
Asuka's eyes went narrow. " _Seriously_? Shit, sorry..."  
A sigh. "It's alright. You didn't know."

  
  
_Entropy_  
Sh: "...if she had PTSD before."  
A: "...she'd have it now. Considering how  _you_  reacted when we all died."  
Sh: "I'd say my show's self had more of a handle on his emotions. At least until the movie."  
Rei practically hissed at Kyubey. "He dares show his face to her after all this."  
Ka: "It's obvious he's  _still_  trying to turn her."  
Ke: "Even though she knows  _everything_."  
Sh: "Who the hell would even accept that, knowing everything?"  
Sa: "Never know how desperate she could get."  
A: "...how does this all tie into entropy?"  
Ka: "...whatever species Kyubey is, they found the holy grail of energy generation. Energy that does not comply with the laws of thermodynamics."  
R: "Emotions though?"  
Sh: "Wait, they  _don't_  have emotions?"  
Rei glared. "That explains why he-  _they_  treat humans like they do. They literally don't have the capability of understanding."  
A: "Which makes it  _worse_. We're fucking  _cattle_  to them. A cheap source of energy to be disposed of when we become useless, like a damn alkaline  _battery_."  
Ka: "Except this battery can not only overcome  _entropy_ , but can actually  _extend_  the lifespan of the  _universe_. Using a fuel for energy makes less energy than it took to create it, because there is always an energy  _loss_. Its core thermodynamics."  
R: "That applies to all conventional energy generation."  _'S2?'  
'Does not apply. Angel.'_

 _  
  
Contract_  
A: "I wouldn't think making a contract  _under duress_  would be legally binding."  
Sa: "None of what he does would be considered legal."  
Ky: "If you could even apply Earth laws to such an alien... alien."  
Sh: "It's odd how they do not  _know_  what deception is, yet they  _still do it._ "  
R: "...they really  _are_  alien. His thinking is similar to the former commander."  
Ka: "As Asuka said, we are like cattle to them. They are beyond human understanding as Angels are. I would actually liken Kyubey to one."  
A: "And then he just leaves her, saying  _that_. What a complete  _bastard_  of a being Kyubey is."  
Ke: "Of course, they're bastards by  _our_  standards. By their own standards, they would put as much thought to us as we do a hamburger."  
Sh: "...even if they  _did_  have human standards, an energy source like that, that could bypass the laws of thermodynamics itself."  
A: "...it'd be a serious cost/benefit analysis, wouldn't it? There's certainly plenty of people in the world who would see that as a necessary sacrifice."  
Sh: "I know for a fact my father would've been one of them."

  
  
_Retrieve_  
R: "For not comprehending manipulation, Kyubey could spar with the former commander."  
Sh: "At  _least_ , now we know Kyubey is literally an  _alien_  with absolutely  _zero_  comprehension of human emotion."  
A: "Which would automatically make  _Kyubey_  the better per-  _thing_  in the room if you wanted to compare."  
Ke: "He was really that bad?"  
A: "Yes, and lets leave it at that."  
Kensuke was wise to heed her warning.  
Ka: "It still isn't saying any lies though. It probably  _would_  be true such a feat wasn't done before."  
R: "I would think a standard magical girl wouldn't be a magical girl for much longer, once they know the truth."  
Sa: "Sounds accurate. It certainly applied to  _me_."  
A: "...shit, Hitomi wouldn't know."  
A sigh. "She wouldn't even know her actions spurred on my death."  
Ky: "...that's probably for the best, you realise. She would never forgive herself."

  
  
_Hope_  
Sh: "So what are the odds they pull this off?"  
A: "Knowing shows like this,  _zero_." Flat as a pancake.  
R: "Then again, that's what one would think of Leliel."  
A: "Leliel was different though. That was more like it ingested me. Becoming a Witch is like if I got too depressed one time and became an  _Angel_."  
Ke: "That sounds somewhat accur- wait,  _ingested_?"  
Ka: "It seems obvious you harbour some feelings for Sayaka. In the show."  
Ky: "Yeah. I think once I knew the truth, I really started feeling for her."  
Sa: "...and you tried keeping me around. But that didn't work, obviously."  
Sh: "And yet she's  _still_  trying to get you back. That's like something  _I_  would do."  
A: "Yeah, and we know how  _that_  ends, don't we?"  
Sh: "To be fair, that was only  _one_  time out of three that I ended the world."

  
  
_Hunt_  
A: "She knows."  
Sh: "Big surprise there."  
Ky: "Yeah,  _Walpurgisnacht_  was kinda like that."  
R: "Odds are, you didn't live to witness it."  
Ky: "Normally I'd call you a cynic."  
Sa: "...man, if I knew Madoka felt like this."  
Ky: "...not like we could do much, y'know. Considering it was our folks decision to come here."  
Sa: "...still." She sighed. "I'm glad I'm heading over there."  
Sh: "Gonna go visit her?"  
Sa: "Yeah. It's been too long. Kyoko and Kensuke asked their parents if they could go, but Kyoko knows I would still go if they weren't able to. And Kensuke, well, I'm sure Kyoko will treat you right." She poked out a tongue towards him.  
Ky: "I'll make sure to take  _good_  care of you for Sayaka."  
Ke: "Meep."

  
  
_Seckendorff_  
A: "You're very musically inclined in this, Miki."  
Sa: "Which is odd, cause I was never one for playing."  
Ka: "Listening to music is still good though. Music is one of the many triumphs of Li- people, the true mark of a thriving civilisation is music."  
R: "Though being able to express music in your own way is quite nice."  
Ky: "You play, Ayanami?"  
Ka: "All of us do. We form a strings quartet, actually."  
Sh: "I have a feeling trying to recover her won't work."  
A: "In any other magical girl anime, it would work."  
Ke: "Not this one though."  
Ky: "...that's around the time I realised."  
She rested her head on Sayaka's shoulder.  
A: "...sucks, doesn't it? Seeing someone you love get affected like that."  
Ky: "...i wouldn't let her live like that. and... I wouldn't want her to die alone."

  
  
_Divine Wind_  
The pilots understood what she meant, and felt but a fraction of what Sayaka and Kyoko felt. Kyoko, for her part, was holding the emotional Sayaka.  
Sa: "...i still can't believe you'd do that for me."  
Ky: "...you know i would. even if it was stupid."  
A: "...that sounds a lot like how  _I_  would react."  
Sh: "...he  _did_  know it was impossible."  
Ka: "...they didn't  _say_  it was impossible to her. Only that it hadn't been done. Beware the exact word."  
R: "And all that was  _planned_." Her glare could spar with the electron beam of the screen.

  
  
"...but out of all this shit that happened to us, it was these damn  _credits_  that finally broke us."  
  
"...it didn't help it was sung by  _us_." Sayaka's melancholy was palpable.  
  
"...i still find it kinda odd how their voices are so much like yours." Kensuke, too, felt sorrow for his girlfriends. They definitely handled it better than they did when they last watched it. But his previous sentiments of 'fuck this show' still remained.  
  
"You get used to it. Eventually." Asuka held off saying it in a flippant tone. "Though it can still be kinda weird, especially when you say stuff you would  _never_  say."  
  
"If by weird, you mean emotionally scarring." Shinji deadpanned.  
  
"Considering we survived everything involving Evangelion with our minds intact, we can pretty much handle any emotion." A pause. "Okay, I  _say_  that, but there's plenty of things that could happen that would probably catapult me into a canyon of despair."  
  
"We out of anyone else in this world have the ability to actively  _prevent_  that sort of stuff, though." Kaworu advised. "Y'know, giant mecha."  
  
"Considering the  _giant mecha_  warp our minds as much as anything else that happens does." Rei deadpanned.  
  
"Well, when you put it that way."  
  
The next episode started. The way Kyoko didn't disengage from Sayaka indicated the coming episode will be one of  _those_ episodes.  
~~~

 

##  I Won’t Depend on Anyone Anymore

 _Timid_  
A: "Well, she's different."  
Ky: "More like normal."  
Ka: "I assume this was from a prior timeline."  
Sh: "Considering how much different she is. I'd liken her to how  _I_ was."  
R: "She might've gone through something similar. We do know she has issues with her heart."  
Sa: "...much like our world."  
Ka: "...I would hope she has support then."  
Ky: "...from Madoka, at least."  
The pilots could pick up on the implication.

  
  
_Officer_  
Sh: "It does sound like this was the start of her friendship with Madoka, however."  
Ke: "It wouldn't be the only time she became friends with her."  
A: "Man, once you start adding time travel into the mix, things become even more fucked."  
R: "I'm sure we could handle it. Considering."  
Ka: "If I'm remembering correctly, this parallels the first episode."  
Ky: "Well, if they wanted to paint just how much Madoka influenced Homura, then it makes sense."  
Sa: "A lotta things started making sense once we knew."  
Sh: "I can see how Akemi would quickly become a friend of Madoka."  
R: "Considering Madoka has been completely open and friendly with her, most likely her closest friend in that world. As she appears to be in  _this_  world."

  
  
_Parallel_  
A: "Well Kaworu, if it wasn't painting parallels before."  
Sh: "Since we already know she can skip time, she must've gone through many loops to get to where she was today."  
A: "Well, if you had to repeat the same timespan over and over again, you'd probably change quite a bit too. Just imagine if, after where our show ended off at, we all got flung back to 2015, memories intact."  
Shinji thought. "Well, if death is no longer an issue. I'd probably try changing things, getting revenge on my father, that sort of stuff. Maybe if there's other people who are experiencing this... looping? I'd collaborate with them."  
Ka: "I would imagine after a significant amount of those time loops, you would feel nihilist."  
He shrugged. "Probably, especially if I start seeing other, non-loopers as simple machines."  
A: "Christ, I can't imagine having to go through that shit forever. I'd probably try deleting myself."  
R: "Knowing this world, we could do that if we tried hard enough."  
Ke: "Please don't, I  _like_  this universe."  
Sh: "Man, now  _Akemi_  is sounding as self-loathing as I was."  
Sa: "Much like Madoka." She sighed. "They're quite alike in that regard, unfortunately."  
A: "...you do know a good majority of us have  _some_  self-loathing."  
Ky: "...though you seemed to solve it by hooking up."  
Sh: "...it helps. But it doesn't make it go away."

  
  
_Izabel_  
A: "I hate it when I randomly wander into esoteric dimensions beyond my comprehension."  
Sh: "You would know."  
Ke: "I still can't believe you  _would_  know."  
A: "Welcome to our world, Aida. Leave your sanity at the door."  
Ka: "I assume this is where Madoka comes in and becomes the hero."  
She did.  
A: " _And_  Tomoe?"  
That put some smiles on the pilot's faces.  
R: "Of  _course_ , it's another timeline. She would still be alive, at least at this point."  
Sh: "Wait, Madoka's a magical girl in this timeline?"  
A: " _Finally_. 10 episodes in and the title character is actually portrayed as the opening implied."  
Sa: "You do know that's  _not_  a good thing." Complete deadpan, emulating the pilot's standard snark.  
Ka: "Though it is interesting to see how a magical girl Madoka would look like."  
A: "I'd say it was too frilly for a magical girl costume, but what do I know. My only experience with this genre were a couple episodes of Sailor Moon." She tried hiding her impression. "Gotta say, Madoka rocks a bow."  
Ke: "That is what she  _would_  be like, if Akemi didn't have a damn good reason to stop her."

  
  
_Respite_  
A: "Ahh, I remember when this wasn't completely shitting on the hopes and dreams of the characters."  
Ke: "That was two days ago."  
A: "Might as well be in the last century, with how neck snapping the tone shift was."  
Sh: "We do get to see her interact with Tomoe, at least. They seem more like friends, instead of Sempai-Kohai."  
Ky: "Oh, they were still Sempai and Kohai, but they were quite friendly." The pilots could sense her wistful aura.  
Rei quickly moved on from Mami. "Akemi as she was is very much like how Madoka was at the beginning."  
Sa: "Wide eyed and naive? You already know that's gonna change."  
A: "I imagine it'll be  _how_  it changes that this focuses on." Asuka grumbled. "You two and your friends in Tokyo-2 sound like regular girls, whatever did you do to deserve this?"  
Sayaka shrugged. "Guess it's just an 18 carat run of bad luck."  
Ky: "More like the game was rigged from the start."

  
  
_Saint Walpurga_  
A: "Speaking of sudden shifts in tone."  
Ka: "So this is what  _Walpurgisnacht_  looks like."  
Sh: "If the Seventh was like clockwork,  _this_  is even more so."  
R: "...and Tomoe managed to last that long in this timeline."  
Sa: "...she died fighting, at least. It's better than what most magical girls get."  
A: "...I'd say. Dying knowing you made a difference, it’s better than just being ripped to shreds."  
Sh: "...it kinda sucks to see Akemi go through the same sort of stations Madoka went through."  
Ka: "...it would all be a part of her character though. All these trials and tribulations. And this is only the  _first_  timeline, mind you. We don't know how many loops she went through before the start of the show."  
Ky: "...I thought she was brave, facing such a monster alone."  
Ke: "She's the only one who could, at this point. And she knew it was suicide, but she still did it."  
R: "...sometimes that's just what you have to do, to defeat the enemy."  
A: "...I already told you guys, every sortie could be our last, despite everything. We know that all too well. But that's life."  
Sh: "...yeah. Even if we don't like to be reminded of it."  
R: "...though much like us, I know Akemi would do anything she could to save her."  
Sa: "...which is where Kyubey comes in."  
Asuka glared knives. "Fucking predator."

  
  
_PMMM Time Loops 2_  
Ka: "And just like that, she went against entropy."  
Ke: "Which is one of the core issues of time travel."  
A: "Of course, her presence will create a completely different timeline. And we already know Kyubey makes entropy his bitch anyway, so this isn't exactly that bad."  
Sh: "...I expect things to go bad now. When  _I_  tried changing things for the better, I accidentally ended the world and got shafted even harder."  
Sa: "... _accidentally_? How do you accidentally _the world_?!"  
The pilots shrugged. "It's possible."  
Ky: "So who was the genius who thought to give the keys to giant, potentially world ending robots, to teenagers."  
Ka: "Shinji's father."

  
  
_Repeat_  
A: "Already she's much more confident than she was last time."  
Ka: "She has a goal: Save Madoka. As long as she could do that, she's happy."  
Sa: "Thing is."  
Ka: "Yeah, it hasn't exactly worked out as of yet."  
R: "Though this  _is_  only the second of the however many time loops Akemi goes through."  
A: "Y'know, Shinji? This kinda reminds me of how you told the whole class you were a pilot."  
Shinji gave a chuckle. "Least she didn't get bashed for it."  
Ke: "Hey, you got your revenge against him, didn't ya?"  
Sh: "Well yeah, but first impressions and all that."

  
  
_Testing and Proving_  
Ka: "It's certainly an interesting power, wielding  _time_  itself."  
A: "Something essentially impossible in this world."  
Ka: "As I said, you can never know for sure. With great power comes great... power."  
Sh: "Even so, attacking that barrel winded her harder than  _I_  usually get, and I'm not even really that fit."  
Ke: "Maybe by pilot standards, you practically go toe to toe with Toji on the track."  
Sa: "That would be her heart, I would think. At least, as a magical girl, it's more of a non-issue."  
R: "...I still wouldn't become a lich to solve such a problem."  
Ky: "...though consider such a problem affects your whole life. Actually, I'm not sure what NERV has, but they can probably fix something like that, I imagine."  
Ke: "You wouldn't be able to pilot if you had something like that."  
R: "Indeed. They do have  _some_  methods, but we cannot exactly talk about them."

  
  
_Cookbook_  
A: "So Tomoe's idea of using Akemi's powers right is using  _The Anarchist's Cookbook_."  
Sh: "Makes sense. Stop time, set bomb or gun, start time, boom. And it's not like she's gonna be able to steal bombs from the military."  
Ke: "If you just searched for that on the Net with nothing protecting you, you're gonna get 28 Marines at your doorstep in ten seconds flat."  
A: "Don't tell me you  _tried_  that."  
Ke: " _I_  didn't."

  
  
_Patricia_  
Sh: "Ah yes, the  _clothesline_  Angel."  
A: "Man, if we had to face that, we would've laughed it to death."  
R: "I find it hard to believe a simple  _pipe bomb_  would destroy a Witch like that."  
Ka: "Even the Angels could differ wildly in what they were vulnerable. Matarael, for example, fell to a simple burst of a pallet rifle. Anything more than that would've turned hi-  _it_  into a fine mist."  
Sayaka gave a small smile. "At least  _here_  they seemed happy."  
Ky: "It was one of the few times they were happy in this damn story, wasn't it?"

  
  
_PMMM Time Loops 3_  
A: "... _well,_ Miki. You just had to jinx it, didn't you?"  
Ky: "We already knew it would happen like that, you realise."  
Ka: "...well. This timeline ended terribly."  
Sh: "She became a  _Witch_. You can't get much more worse than that."  
Ke: "Try this anime."  
Homura walked down the boulevard of broken dreams.  
R: "Timeline 3."  
A: "Oh boy, can't wait to see how she screws this up now." She deadpanned.

  
  
_Antagonism_  
A: "Great, they're already fighting."  
Sa: "Sorta similar to how we did in the  _actual_  timeline. Although, it's completely true what she was saying."  
Ky: "Shame no one listened to her, before it was too late."  
R: "It does sound like she will expand her arsenal, however."  
Sh: "Well, you don't want to be completely reliant on explosives. A gun can be quite nice."  
A: "Stealing from the damn  _Yakuza_  though?"  
Sh: "She can stop time, and it's the  _Yakuza._ No one would give a damn."  
Ka: "Though it is odd seeing such a timid girl like her wielding a  _shotgun_."  
Sa: "Oh yeah,  _our_  Homura wouldn't even  _touch_  a gun. But this Homura has already changed quite a bit."  
Ke: "Not even taking into account other timelines."  
R: "...is she using a Dirac Sea to store those?"  
Ka: "It would be one of the few explanations of such a pocket. It would come under her time powers, from a certain point of view."

  
  
_Oktavia_  
Sa: "Great. It's me again." She deadpanned.  
A: "Again? This is the  _second_  timeline we know of."  
Sa: "I'm pretty sure I got shafted in  _all_  of them."  
Sh: "Maybe your fate  _was_  rigged from the start. Kinda like ours were."  
R: "Though they still tried to save you."  
Ke: "And failed. As they did."  
Sh: "...at the very least, everyone else is still alive."  
The trio looked among themselves.

  
  
_Break_  
Like a twig, the sanity of Mami broke, along with Kyoko's soul gem.  
A: "...oh shit,  _Tomoe_? I honestly wouldn't expect  _her_  of all people to break."  
Kyoko took a deep breath to calm herself. "...she even knew to prevent Homura from using her time powers."  
Mami fell.  
In the span of 10 seconds, two magical girls were killed.  
The cries of Madoka filled the room.  
Ka: "...this timeline has been the worse so far."  
R: "It's only the  _third_. I didn't expect to be this bad this quickly."  
Ky: "...you could say that for this entire show."

  
  
_Pyrrhic_  
A: "...well shit."  
Ky: "...they managed to defeat it, at least."  
Ka: "...it's a pyrrhic victory, however."  
R: "...Such a victory is still a victory."  
Sayaka held on closer to Kyoko.  
Sh: "...this is gonna suck, is it?"  
They just looked, Sayaka with tears, as they turned back to the screen.  
A: "...after all that happened to them, I can understand her thinking."  
Sh: "...that's what  _we_  thought when the world ended, wasn't it?"  
A: "...the worlds we watched, at least."

  
  
_Grief_  
Madoka used her last Grief Seed. On Homura.  
Kaworu noticed a few key details of the Seed. "...that was...  _your_  Grief Seed, Miki."  
Sa: "It... was?" She buried herself further into Kyoko.  
R: "...she knows. She knows Akemi can loop."  
Sh: "...so this is where Akemi got her drive from."  
Ka: "...Madoka made her promise. This is why Akemi wants to save her so badly. Her closest friend. This is why she's so persistent."  
A: "...watching a friend... no, someone you  _love_ , die like that. And have you promise them something. You would do  _anything_."  
Sh: "...so she will become a Witch again, then."  
Sa: "...no."

  
  
_I don't want to become a Witch_  
The pilots collective heart rates all spiked, as Madoka uttered those seven words.  
R: "...this is..." Something about that hit her close to home, and she sought Kaworu.  
A: "...my god." She also sought Shinji.  
They could only watch in silence, tears beginning to well as they realised they could just as easily be put into a similar situation.  
Ka: "...and this is  _mercy_."  
Homura's anguished, completely pained  _screams_  filled the room.  
A gun fired. But the sound never came.  
The penetrating silence was replaced with quiet sobbing.

  
  
_PMMM Time Loops 4_  
Ka: "...this is where her mindset completely changes."  
A: "...h-having to  _kill_. someone you love."  
R: "...it would do that."  
Ke: "...for all that's happened to you, you never had to kill a friend like that."  
Ka: "...i made Rei promise me. if... something like that were to happen to me. if... i became corrupted."  
Sh: "...with how being a Witch is like, it would've been the better fate."  
A: "...i don't think I could do that with you."  
Sh: "...i wouldn't too... but out of all the people."  
Ky: "...and Kyubey is still as bad as ever."

  
  
_Kriemhild Gretchen_  
A: "...so  _that's_  Madoka's Witch form."  
Sh: "...how much power she has..."  
Ka: "...and Akemi will continue down her lonely road."  
Sa: "...i wouldn't wish that fate on anyone."  
R: "...she loves her, though. Even without being able to see their light in media like this, I can tell. She would do anything to save her. As we all would."  
Ky: "...you're all really obsessed with one another, are you?"  
A: "...we're pretty much all textbook co-dependent on one another. But fuck that, I love Shinji."  
Shinji gave a grim chuckle. "...man, we sure are fucked up, aren't we Ken?"

  
  
The  _opening_  finally played.  
  
"...well,  _that_  puts a depressing twist on the fucking  _opening_." Asuka complained. "Even  _our_  show, with how depressing and complete bullshit in how it fucks us, the opening was always this poppy sort of tune."  
  
"...this makes the opening about  _Akemi_." Rei realised. "This isn't  _Madoka's_  story. This is  _hers_."  
  
"...you can see how after all those episodes, we had to take a small break."  
  
"I'm amazed you got that far before taking a break." Shinji praised sardonically.  
  
"...I think we did better than what I would expect of my friends." Kyoko remarked. "And we are  _not_  bringing this with us when we go to Tokyo-2."  
  
"Oh hell no."  
  
Once everyone composed themselves, the next episode started.  
~~~

 

##  The Only Signpost Remaining

 _Red Thread_  
A: "So Kyubey has it all figured out now."  
Ke: "Remember, he determined this by the time she killed him."  
Ka: "For however many loops she went through. We know it to be at least 5 or 6."  
R: "It's most likely higher than that."  
A: "Could even be triple digit. Christ _I_ wouldn't want to do that."  
Sh: "But she does it, on the hope she could save Madoka."  
Ka: "Love makes you do odd things. We'd know this well."  
Sa: "Even though whatever Homura did  _somehow_  gave Madoka so much power. As Kyubey theorised."  
Ka: "...well. We know for a fact the red strings of fate can be binding and constricting. It seems in their world, the more you try to change fate, the more it tightens."  
R: "We were able to break through those strings in our world, at the very least."  
A: "Not in any of the other worlds we witnessed, though."  
Sh: "Is it even  _possible_  to inadvertently make someone the  _centre_  of destiny like that?"  
Kaworu thought. " _You_  certainly were in our shows."  
Ky: "Knowing  _this_  world."  
A: "...you know, for  _not_  having emotion, that was some  _excellent_  sarcasm from Kyubey."  
~

  
  
_Funeral_  
Sayaka gave a melancholy look. "...not every day you can witness your own funeral."  
Kensuke went for a hand. "...at least you were  _found_ , so you could be laid to rest."  
Sa: "...yeah. Mami didn't get that luxury, did she?"  
Asuka steadied her breathing. "...man, I would say you guys got even  _more_  shafted than us in this show."  
Sh: "...her mother is probably worried sick about Madoka."  
Ky: "As any mother would be, after all that shit."  
R: "...Kyubey must have read your mind, Asuka."  
A: "He really  _does_  think of us as  _cattle_ , and then he has the gall to say he treats us  _better_."  
Ka: "...you must consider, they have  _no_  emotion at all. No empathy for the pain of others, no understanding of other people's emotions. It's all pragmatism."

  
  
_Horrible Histories_  
Sh: "Hang on, how many girls have been magical?"  
Ky: "Quite a few, actually. Though I questioned the decision to make  _some_  girls magical girls."  
Ka: "So this is a cycle then, that has been going on since before history."  
R: "Magical girls get a wish, and succumb to despair, and become despair, which magical girls wish to remove."  
A: "...okay, that's obviously  _Cleopatra._ "  
Ka: "An example of succumbing to despair. 31 BC, she and paramour Mark Antony were defeated in battle against Rome. In her despair, she allowed an asp to take her."  
Ke: "As Kyubey said, that which begins with hope, ends in despair."  
Sa: "And obviously, in that cursed world, the cycle has never been broken."  
Ka: "Unfortunately, it appears to be a natural law of the magical girl. The Law of Cycles. Despite the despair, however, one cannot discount their contributions to society."  
A: "Like  _Joan of Arc_."  
R: "I would think  _any_  important woman figure in history, this show will have an explanation that they were a magical girl."

  
  
_And your host, a talking rat!_  
Ky: "Of course, poor Madoka doesn't want to know this."  
R: "There are many truths one will not want to believe, because they shatter the worldview."  
A: "Of course,  _we're_  used to it by this point."  
Ka: "What Kyubey said about wishes would make logical sense, at least. If you push against the laws of the universe, they will most likely push back."  
R: "Applying even to karma?"  
Ka: "As Kyubey said, hope brings despair. You make a wish based on the hope something will change. Equally, your wish will inevitably bring about despair; on yourself, on others, on the world."  
Ky: "In that world, at least."  
Ka: "Indeed. Of course, fate is an odd thing to consider either way, and one that is impossible to prove."  
A: "Considering we were able to prove the  _soul_  exists."  
R: "...of course, I wouldn't go as far as to calling emotion a  _mental disorder._ "  
Ke: "It would all be through his own perspective though. We would be as alien to him as he is to us."

  
  
_Rum_  
Ky: "At least adults have alcohol to help numb the pain a little."  
A: "A drink is all well and good, and getting drunk can be fun as well, but you do  _not_  want to use alcohol to numb pain. It only makes things worse."  
Sh: "I'm sure Misato would know that."  
Ke: "Still, after something as tragic as  _that_ , sometimes you  _need_  to diminish your faculties."  
R: "...they only just noticed Tomoe was missing."  
Sa: "...unlike me, she'll never be found in that world."  
Ka: "...we should also consider, this is not the first time this has happened. Homura's a looper, after all."  
_'Similar to you?'  
'Possibly. Possibly.'_  
A: "...Oh God, I completely forgot about how Hitomi would react to this."  
Sayaka shook her head, in disappointment. "She would  _never_  want that to happen."  
Sh: "...still, they probably think of themselves as failures for not being able to protect us. We saw how Misato just completely  _broke_  when she thought I was dead."  
Ka: "...and how she was perfectly willing to sacrifice herself, to protect us. Even in  _our_  world, she seemed satisfied with how she ended."

  
  
_Residence_  
R: "...I expect her to find out about  _everything_  here."  
Ke: "You would be right."  
A: "Would Akemi tell her about her looping, you reckon?"  
R: "There's no harm in doing so. She could always go back if things end up badly."  
Ka: "...I don't think she will do it this time. Kyubey told her going back in time will make things worse."  
Ky: "Not to mention we only have one episode left after this."  
Ka: "...well, yeah, there is that."  
A: "As if Madoka couldn't get any more depressing information loaded on her."  
Ke: "...all she tells her is to prevent her from becoming a magical girl."  
R: "She would end the world, if it meant Madoka did not become a magical girl."  
Sh: "Oh gee, that sounds familiar."  
Asuka barked out a laugh in what was meant to be a serious scene.  
Sa: "Been there, done that?" She suggested. "Either way, now Madoka knows Homura's a looper. As you call them."  
Homura desperately hugged Madoka.  
A: "...that's really sad, actually. She just wants Madoka to be safe."  
Ke: "...after having seen her die so many times."

  
  
_Before The Storm_  
Sa: "I'm sure an evacuation would be more shocking to the Madoka of this story."  
Ky: "It would  _still_  be shocking to  _our_  Madoka. It's not like she's lives here, where we either have a drill evacuation or an  _actual_ evacuation on a monthly basis."  
R: "It's obvious Mitakihara does not have the infrastructure for regular evacuations, having to rely on a mobile announcer."  
A: "Then again, it's not like they  _need_  the infrastructure for that. It's not like they have incomprehensible beings messing shit up."  
Silence.  
A: "Okay, they  _do_ , but no one knows about it. Even  _Walpurgisnacht_ , the biggest damn Witch there is, is seen as a supercell to the muggles."  
Sa: "...muggle?"  
Asuka rolled her eyes. "A term used in the Harry Potter novels to refer to non-magical people."  
Sa: "...huh. That's a bit of a funny name."  
Ka: "I honestly doubt Akemi will defeat  _Walpurgisnacht_."  
R: "Madoka  _will_  come into play. We are nearing the end, now would be the time."  
Ke: "She will try, however."

  
  
_Seven Nation Army_  
A: "Jesus  _Christ_ , Homura, did you loot the damn JSSDF?"  
Ke: "Out of all the people who  _could_."  
Sh: "So how many millions of taxpayer's Yen did she use?"  
Ka: "A lot, I imagine. Although, like in  _our_  world, the efficiency of conventional weapons against the enemy is variable at best."  
A: "Though I noticed they tend to be more effective against Witches. Akemi could dispatch certain Witches with a barrage of conventional guns and bombs, whereas Angels were at most  _disabled temporarily_  after hitting them with our  _strongest_ conventional weaponry."  
R: "The only issue with Witches, is that only  _magical girls_  know they even  _exist_. At least with the Angels, the whole world knew and could back NERV in the fight."  
Ky: "Obviously the magical girl would not have that luxury."  
Ka: "They don't have  _any_  support, outside of fellow magical girls. Though you have people like Tomoe, Akemi and how Sakura was in the show, who don't necessarily  _need_  support."

  
  
_Tanker_  
A: "And it  _shows_  for Akemi.  _Damn_  girl."  
Sh: "She's really throwing  _everything_  at it, isn't she?"  
Ke: "Doubt you guys ever threw a  _fuel truck_  at an Angel."  
A: "No, but it's a good idea. Gotta remember that; at the very least it'll annoy them."  
Sa: "You're getting strategy from this show." She deadpanned.  
A: "To tell you a secret, I also took strategy from the other shows we watched."  
Ke: "...wait,  _that's_  why you ate that enemy Evangelion?"  
She wiped her lips, revealing a smirk.  
R: "That seems like an absurd amount of bombs."  
Ka: "She's not taking any chances. And as we know, there's no kill like overkill."  
A: "Got that right. Better to  _over_ kill than to  _under_ kill."  
Sh: " _Surely_  that'll be it for  _Walpurgisnacht_ , then."  
Kyoko snorted. "What makes you think she'll succeed  _now_?"  
It wasn't very effective.

  
  
_Tremor_  
Ka: "...she's decided something."  
R: "She will become a magical girl at this rate."  
A: "Well, it's to be expected, I suppose. Despite everything Akemi did, we must still remember Madoka's name is in the  _title_  of this show."  
Ka: "I would suggest Akemi reset the timeline, but with how everything is coming to a head, I doubt that will happen."  
Sh: "Though she doesn't have a choice. As Kyubey said, to  _not_  reset the timeline is to succumb to the despair."  
A: "Christ,  _she's_  Faust, isn't she?"  
Ka: "And Madoka is her Gretchen. It's even in Madoka's Witch name;  _Kriemhild Gretchen._ "  
A: " _And_  Kriemhild?"  
Ka: "It fits, I suppose. Kriemhild sought revenge after her husband's murder, bringing down the Huns and the Burgundians with her. Gretchen is the love of Faust he so desperately tried to save. Thus,  _Kriemhild Gretchen._ "

  
  
_Mother's Love_  
A: "Her mother is  _not_  gonna let her just go out and become  _Kriemhild Gretchen_."  
Sa: "Of course she wouldn't. No parent would."  
Ky: "I know for a fact  _my_  mother would slap me if I tried pulling something like this."  
Sh: "I'm sure  _my_  father would let me go if it factored into a plan of his." Grumbling.  
A: "Yeah, but your father was an asshole of epic proportions, whose closest analogue in _this_  show is fucking  _Kyubey_."  
Ke: "I kinda expected her mum to put up more resistance to that sort of thing."  
R: "She trusts her. That's all she needs."  
Ka: "...this will be the last she sees of her daughter, won't it?"  
The trio didn't answer this.

  
  
_Despair_  
Asuka cringed at Homura's broken leg. "...she didn't win."  
Ke: "Just like all the other times."  
R: "...this time, however. She knows just what she did with Madoka."  
Ka: "...she may succumb to her despair, forcing Madoka to become a magical girl."  
Ky: "You're not that far off."  
Sh: "I really feel for her though. She tried so hard to change Madoka's fate."  
A: "But she failed. Every single damn time." She sighed. "Who the hell wrote this? They hate their characters more than  _our_ director hated  _us_."  
Kensuke thought. "If I remember correct, Urobuchi."  
A: "Urobuchi you fucking bastard!" She yelled to no one in particular.  
Sh: "...maybe you're right, Kaworu."

  
  
_Done Enough_  
Ka: "...or maybe not."  
A: "So this is where pinkie  _finally_  becomes a magical girl."  
Ke: "In this current timeline, at least."

  
  
"... _or_ , they could leave us on a damn  _cliffhanger_." Asuka angrily exasperated.  
  
"Well, a cliffhanger just gives you more incentive to watch the next episode, doesn't it?" Kensuke prodded.  
  
She was flat. "We would've watched it anyway, you realise."  
  
He shrugged back. "But for the few minutes it'll take for the next episode to start, it's gonna be eating away at your mind, isn't it?"  
  
"Not really." Flippant. "It’s obvious she'll become a magical girl and defeat  _Walpurgisnacht_. I guess the only thing left up in the air is her wish and what she'll do."  
  
"Which could be anything." Rei added. "Though I would think it be something along the lines of 'rescue everyone'."  
  
"Yeah, let’s go with that."  
~~~

 

##  END: My Best Friend

 _My Wish_  
Sh: "So this is it, eh?"  
A: "There's much less chance of the world ending, at least. Unless Madoka goes  _Kriemhild Gretchen_  again."  
R: "...Akemi would still think she failed, however."  
Ka: "...she has not succumbed to her despair yet. As long as she doesn't."  
Sa: "Madoka pretty much kept her tethered to the world."  
A: "Sounds kinda similar to us."  
Ke: "I thought her wish to actually be  _really_  selfless."  
A: "Well don't spoil it, Aida!"  
  
With conviction, Madoka made her wish.  
R: "...well."  
Ky: "My reaction too."  
Ka: "She just wished to  _rewrite the universe_!" He looked on in shock. "She- ju- what-  _How_  do you get enough power to make that wish?"  
Asuka gave a low laugh. "She's gonna  _burn_  the whole system to the  _ground_!"  
R: "She could do that, if her wish comes true. She's wishing to become a god."  
Sh: "Gotta say though, it's  _extremely_ satisfying to see Kyubey actually seem  _panicking_."  
Sa: "Oh yeah, that was one of the best parts of this."  
Ke: "Especially since  _he_  was the one who had to grant her a wish."  
The world was bathed in purple light, as the hand of the incubus was forced.

  
  
_Farplane_  
R: "...it sounds like she's in a heaven of sorts."  
Ka: "...maybe in that world, the cycle of life is different. Maybe the soul goes to another realm, instead of being reborn."  
Ke: "We have a Law of Cycles too?"  
Ka: "You  _could_  call it that, but it's not like the show. After death, the disembodied soul will seek a new shell, a new life. Thus life continues."  
Ky: "...where would Sayaka be then?"  
Ka: "...her soul became corrupted. I... I believe it would've been destroyed. If our world is anything to go by."  
A hand was sought.  
Sh: "...so Madoka ceases to exist."  
Ka: "...This is  _beyond_  mere godhood." His exasperation was evident. "This is becoming a  _concept_ , a  _law of the universe_ , like the Laws of Thermodynamics or Physics. This is more than what Shinji ever did in our show."  
_'Beyond even Progenitor.'  
'Can't possibly become concept, right?'  
'Power beyond universe handle. Tear to shreds.'_  
Rei shuddered at his implication.  
Sa: "...the worst part about this, is that she's  _fine_  with becoming what amounts to  _nonexistence_."  
A: "...jesus, _my_ lack of self-worth was never  _that_  bad."  
Ka: "...and this is most likely a reflection of  _this world's_  Madoka too."  
Sa: "...it is."

  
  
_Ascendance_  
R: "She will begin the purge of Witches with  _Walpurgisnacht_."  
A: "But this is  _all_  Witches, through time itself."  
R: "I expect she will do what I did in our show."  
S: "...this is-" He found a non-classified way of saying it. "This will be like the end of our show, won't it?"  
Ka: "A smaller scale, since it will only apply to the magical girl."

  
  
_Instrumentality_  
Sh: "...so that is how."  
Sa: "I found this quite touching, actually. How Madoka has so much love and mercy, she would bear the burden of  _all_  the despair."  
Ky: "Kinda sounds like her, I would think. She always wants to help."  
A: "...at the very least, now they can all die happy."  
Ka: "Indeed... they will still fall eventually, but they will no longer succumb to despair."  
A: "That's like us rewriting the  _universe_  to prevent Second Impact."  
Ka: "In the grand scheme of things, Second Impact only affected Earth. The same with what happened at the end of our show. Even the  _solar system_  was largely unaffected by such a world ending event."  
A: "Just how many magical girls  _were there_?"  
R: "As I said, this show would say  _any_  girl that made their mark on history was a magical girl."  
A: "...really?  _Anne Frank was a magical girl."_  Complete deadpan.  
Rei rolled eyes. " _As I said_ ,"  
The world faded to white.

  
  
_Clair de Lune_  
Ky: "...you guys wouldn't happen to know where she ended up here, right?"  
Rei and Kaworu shrugged. "If I were to hazard a guess, an astral plane of some sort."  
R: "Especially considering the  _universe_  needs to realign, as Kyubey said."  
A: "So she's resetting the  _universe_."  
Sh: "I know Ritsuko says 'turn it off and on again' for computers, but I didn't know you could apply it to the  _universe_."  
Kensuke snorted. "Or when you install a new program, and you have to restart."  
Ka: "That's a remarkable analogy. Madoka created new laws, so now the universe is rebooting."  
Sa: "And since Kyubey is a hive, and Homura wields time, they would be somewhat safe from all this."  
Madoka's Soul Gem came into view, the pilots expressing their bewilderment at the sheer  _size_  of such a thing.  
Ka: "Having it such a size makes sense, in a way, considering the  _absurd_  amount of despair she must carry now."  
A: "...her Witch must be completely mental then."  
R: "Indeed it would be. But paradoxically,  _her own Witch_  would also be annihilated. By  _her_."  
Ke: "Yeah, that was a bit of a mind melter."  
Shinji shrugged. "We're kinda used to it by now."

  
  
_Celestia_  
Paradoxic was correct, as she did just that, becoming one with the universe itself.  
_'SEELE would've creamed selves for this.'_  
Rei broke out into laughter, much to the confusion of the trio. "My apologies."  
Ka: "And Akemi still does not want to accept this as her fate."  
R: "Her final fate, it would seem like."  
A: "Still, they could be  _clothed_."  
Ka: "It's not like clothes matter when you're a  _concept_."  
A: "Well, the laws of the universe can still maintain _some_  modesty."  
Sa: "This show was pretty much  _built_  on Yuri undertones anyway."  
Sh: "At least Madoka can still comfort her."  
R: "...I would imagine Akemi would want to stay with her. Like this."  
Ky: "...she would, y'know. A world like that, with no pain."  
R: "But no individuality, what makes us us."  
Ky: "...still though. Losing one's individuality would not be a high price to pay, I would think, for what essentially amounts to a heaven of sorts."  
R: "...our thinking is different in that regard, then."

  
  
_Until We Meet Again_  
A: "She's not only the God of her own universe. She's a God of  _every_  universe. How the fuck does that even happen?"  
Ka: "Great power can do a lot. We would know."  
Ky: "...this  _is_  what Homura would want. Just to stay by the side of her friend, even if they were the only ones there."  
Sh: "Even though Madoka will be  _everywhere_  now. Considering she's  _God_."  
R: "It would give Akemi some comfort at least. I expect she will have to eventually return to the physical realm."  
Ke: "...unfortunately."  
She gave Homura Her ribbons, and let go.  
A: "...fucks sake. I can't believe I'm saying this  _again_ , but Akemi got even more shafted than we  _ever_  did." It might as well have been a mantra at this point.  
Sh: "...after all that shit she went through, she  _still_  wasn't able to be with her."  
Sa: "...guess that's just how it is. Least in this world, they're sorta alright."  
Ky: " _Everyone_  in this world has been  _less_  shafted than us." A chuckle. "Maybe in this world, _you_ guys took the brunt of the karma so we could live at least  _somewhat_ decent lives."  
Pilots, in tandem deadpan: "You're welcome."

  
  
_Recital_  
A: "Can't catch a break, eh Miki?"  
Sa: "Evidently not. At least in  _this_  universe, I didn't die when I was  _13_. It was more closer to _15_."  
Ka: "Would it have been worth it, though?"  
Sa: "...Yeah. Even more so after what Madoka did." She closed her eyes and listened. "At least I was able to listen to him, one more time, before I went into the night."  
R: "You didn't become a Witch, at least. This 'way of the cycle' is currently in effect."  
Ka: "...using up all of your magic power, without replenishing it. At least it's no longer tied to any despair."  
Ky: "...as Mami said, before the despair would come, they vanish."  
R: "Such is the law of that universe now."  
A: "...and all this was because Madoka allowed herself to be forgotten."  
R: "...by all but a select few."

  
  
_Imaginary_  
Sh: "...not even her parents remember."  
Ka: "...they wouldn't have ever realised. She never  _was_."  
A: "...though it’s amazing how her younger brother can remember her."  
Ka: "...I'm sure Madoka would appear to him, and play with him."  
Sa: "...much like  _our_  world."  
A: "...it’s a shame no one remembers her. she did so much for that world."  
Ke: "...she knew that. But yet she still sacrificed herself, to prevent such sorrow from befalling the magical girl."  
Ka: "...it's rather selfless in that regard. A sacrifice that saves the world, without anyone knowing it."

  
  
_Brave New World_  
Sh: "And not even  _Kyubey_  knew of the old world."  
A: "Though I still wouldn't trust him with that knowledge."  
R: "Considering Akemi is the only one who can remember, I doubt it would be of much use to Kyubey."  
Ky: "Even though he  _still_  sounds like he would prefer such a thing."  
Sh: "It actually sounds like Kyubey is somewhat  _good_  this time around, if you could even apply such a thing to a being."  
R: "It's still abominable what they do with the soul. But at the very least, they don't seem to use the heavy handed efforts they used last time."  
Ka: "It's certainly plausible that the magical girl, and its implications for the soul, are a necessary evil in that world. If Kyubey's monologue was anything to go by. In addition to these new Wraiths."  
R: "...when you put it that way, I can accept it a bit more. Still."  
Ke: " _And_ , they kinda implied all magical girls end up in a magical girl heaven, under this new deal."  
A: "Well, at least they get some sort of happiness. About time."  
  
And the fight continued.

  
  
"...which also means Akemi will finally be with Madoka, in the end." Kaworu was quiet.  
  
"...that's probably the best ending you could ask for." Spoke Shinji. " _Almost_  everyone is alive. Madoka saved everyone through a sacrifice. The world is intact."  
  
"More than what could be said of  _your_  world after your show?" Prodded Kyoko.  
  
"Eeyup." The flame was flat. "Complete wasteland with Shinji and I the only living beings for miles. Then it just ended. Oh yeah, that's  _another_  thing your show has, a  _conclusion_."  
  
"You could classify our ending as a conclusion. At least character wise." Rei threw her hat into the ring. "Of course, if you're speaking about  _Shinji_."  
  
"Yeah, it sounded like your show focused a lot on Shinji." Kensuke put that disc back where it came from.  
  
"He  _was_  the main protagonist of the show, you realise." Asuka deadpanned.  
  
To a shrug. "Anyway, how was the anime?"  
  
"Not too bad actually. It wasn't  _as_  traumatising as I expected."  
  
"It would be a good show on its own merits, in fact." Kaworu complemented. "If not for the fact it came through a Dirac Rift, from another world."  
  
"I could think of worse reasons to publish it." The pilots were beginning to make their leave. "I assume we won't be seeing you until the end of the break."  
  
"Yeah, that's probably right, Rei." Kensuke rubbed the back of his head. "Heading down to Tokyo-2 and all that."  
  
"Guess we'll see you when you get back then, Kensuke!"

* * *

 

 

A man with a stubble was messing with a PDA, sitting at a coffee table with a business briefcase and casual attire.  
  
He was soon joined by a man in a trench coat, fedora and sunglasses.  
  
Kaji glanced up from the device, hand in his coat. "Solti ola I."  
  
"Amaliche cantia masa estia."  
  
Identities confirmed, he relaxed. "You couldn't have picked a  _less_  subtle disguise, Makinami?"  
  
"You know damn well we're in tinsel town." He was hushed. "Word gets out I'm wandering the streets, I'm gonna get mobbed by every single damn tabloid."  
  
"See, I don't have that problem, because I'm  _not_  famous." A sip of cheap coffee was taken. "Not even in my home country, let alone here. But as we know, power doesn't necessarily bring fame, and fame can sometimes be detrimental."  
  
"Working incognito does have its benefits, 16."  
  
Kaji gave a look. "Enough of the small talk crap."  
  
The briefcase was opened. "An insider at November Echo suggest the discovery of either undiscovered prose of the DSS, or a full blown  _scroll_."  
  
Kaji could feel his glare from beneath the aviators. "I would say you're bullshitting me, but you came all this way for a reason that  _wasn't_  blackmail."  
  
"You know for a fact there's been rumours in the ranks of Oversight. And you  _also_  know that any rumour can be fact when it comes to those bastards." A paper was brought out. "What I have here, is what my source dictated to me. It is in the same language as the original."  
  
Makinami yanked the paper from his grasp and read. His concern only grew as he reread and reread. "It's certainly the same language, but it's not any prose I recognise. I assume you made efforts into translating it?" He offered it back, but Kaji indicated he had another, handwritten copy.  
  
"My knowledge of their language isn't much. But there were a few sporadic key words I could interpret."  
  
He pointed to a few specific words. "'Time' and 'Shift'. 'Meteor'. 'Martyr'. Those are the words I could translate in the few days’ notice I had."  
  
"We must consider their language. Words like 'Time' could very well mean 'Promised Day' when surrounded by the appropriate words."  
  
"I'm certain you have more ample resources than  _I_  do to translate such work."  
  
"Consider the fact you're in the pants of November Echo's commander."  
  
"Consider the fact you have a net worth in the billions of dollars." Another item on the agenda. "But all the money in the world wouldn't get  _her_  back, won't it?"  
  
Ah yes,  _that's_  the trigger.  
  
Kaji showed him an image. A girl, with glasses and plugsuit. His daughter, taken by SEELE.  
  
"...i still don't know how you found this. I didn't realise you could take photos at a base."  
  
"I have my ways. And sources." He pulled out a stack of photos, and scattered them onto the table. "If anything, I'm being very generous with you, for what I'm receiving in return."  
  
"...you asked for loyalty, right?"  
  
"If and when the time comes where we find out a member of Oversight is a double agent, I want all my cards in order. And I'm sure you would too."  
  
"I already have a friendship with November E-"  
  
"A  _business_  relationship, related to those fancy rockets of yours. Very impressive, by the way, never would've thought you could  _land_  a rocket. Though you should know, the Commander has figured out your identity."  
  
"Hmph. She's a smart one. I can see why you like her."  
  
"We both have resources. I'll use my influence in November, you use your influence with Hawthorne. If this shit hits the fan-"  
  
"I know perfectly well, Ryoji. Although I think you missed the point of  _blackmail_. This is clearly a show of friendship."  
  
A chuckle. "English is such a finicky language." He closed the briefcase, leaving the documents on the table. "Call this building our business relationship, then. We both have friends in high places, and you know the intelligence I can get my hands on." A smirk, offering a hand. "We have a deal?"  
  
Well, it wasn't the whole Faustian deal Makinami was expecting. Sure, there's probably a catch to this all, but NERV was better than SEELE  _and_  they had resources. "Yeah. You have yourself a deal."  
  
"Pleasure doing business with you." They shook on it. "I best get going. I have a flight to catch."  
  
Kaji left in a black pickup, along with two burly exmilitary sitting at an adjacent table, leaving his half-finished coffee and documents with Makinami.  
  
He looked through the photos. They  _were_  indeed her.  
  
Makinami put them in his coat, thinking he can break down once he's out of the public eye.  
  
But that wasn't the only point of interest Ryoji gave him. He would have to look into this.  
~~~

  
  
"...it's certainly an interesting figure." Ritsuko inspected the small wooden figure, now painted.  
  
"I would like to add it to the simulator."  
  
A glare. "First thing, we don't have any stats on it, second thing, I don't even know what it  _is_."  
  
"You know that show Kensuke found? He showed it to us over the past few days, over which I have developed a burning hatred for Kyubey."  
  
"...It looks like a damn  _cat_ , how bad could it be, Rei?"  
  
"Do you know what a lich is?"  
  
"Yeah, they're the- oh.  _Oh._ "  
  
"Yes, that's what a magical girl is, and  _he_  makes them."  
  
"I can see why you- wait, he  _made_  them into magical girl liches?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Huh. Gotta say, it's a different take on the magical girl."  
  
"Yes, and I wish to take my anger out on him in a controlled environment."  
  
Ritsuko barked out a laugh. "You're being responsible about it, at least. Though need I remind you the simulator is  _not_  a mere  _Doom clone_. It's a-"  
  
"State of the art system that allows one to simulate piloting. Even though it's unwieldy to use and requires at least a week of preparation."  
  
"We looked into the Theatrical design; and while it's certainly possible, R&D are completely swamped with new things to do. So, it's on the back burner."  
  
"Of course, you've got them doing a lot more."  
  
"Yeah yeah." She put the model down. "I'll look into adding it on Angel scale with some sort of unique power. It'll give me something to do at least."  
  
"Thank you, Dr Akagi." She gave a bow, leaving for her New Unit-00.

Maya almost bumped into her, carrying her terminal. "Evangelions are all hooked up and ready to go, Sempa-" She took notice of the small model Ritsuko was inspecting. "Who's that?"  
  
"According to Rei, it's a  _Kyubey_."  
  
Maya looked closer, making a small squee at the cuteness quotient of it. "Kinda reminds me of Luna."  
  
"I'd say it was closer to Artemis. Either way, Rei wants to tear it to shreds in the simulator."  
  
"Huh." She thought. "I know Aida got that rift material. It come from there?"  
  
"She did say they watched it, and their phones show them going to his place over the past few days." Scrolling through some files. "Speaking of Aida, remind me after Christmas to talk with him."  
  
"Gonna get that show for yourself, Rits?"  
  
"Pfft, I won't be  _that_  direct." Rolling of the eyes. "I'll offer him a job here as an apprentice, and through that I can source the discs through him."  
  
"He might be more willing if you want to try publishing it."  
  
Pause for thought. "That's an excellent idea, Maya! As long as it doesn't have anything that could be considered classified. Should probably set up a shell company to do so, so we don't have any NERV stuff on it."  
  
"Gainax, maybe?"  
  
Laughter. "I can't see why not."  
~~~

  
  
_'Okay pilots, begin synchronisation. Hikari, you'll swap out with Kaworu at 1400 hours.'_  
  
"Yes, Commander!" They all replied in a synchronised fashion.  
  
Inside Rei's Unit, the screens scrolled green with various statuses and numbers in four different bases, ELIZA's startup chime coinciding with a shift to the simulated environment.  _"HI REI!"_  
  
"Hello, ELIZA." A smile on her face, as ELIZA processed the surroundings.  
  
_"THIS SEEMS RATHER ODD, REI."_  
  
"Do not worry. This is a battle simulator, so some things may appear weird."  
  
_"THAT SOUNDS RATHER USEFUL! WHO ARE WE FIGHTING TODAY?"_  
  
"Dunno." A small chuckle.  
  
_"OH WELL. I'M SURE WE COULD GET THROUGH ANYTHING!"_  
  
"We will, ELIZA. Don't you worry about that."  
  
_'Rei, your sync rate is 68%. Keep it up.'_  
  
Next was Asuka and Hikari. Their Evangelions started up in the usual way, as production Evangelions do. Their mothers in their minds, they were ready.  
  
_'Asuka, you're holding steady at 76%. Hikari, 69%.'  
  
'Man, it's been far too long since I've sullied myself with enemy blood.'  
  
'It's good you keep that insane attitude _out _of the Evangelion.'_ Hikari prodded. _'Half the school's men would've dropped dead!'  
  
'Oh don't lie Hikari, _you _like a bit of rain as well, if only to remind Toji who's the boss!'_  
  
This sort of argument went on, so the commander simply elected to mute them for a few minutes.  
  
Meanwhile, Shinji had already started and synchronised.  
  
_"...Shinji?"_  
  
"...I don't want to talk about it right now, mum. Let’s just do this, alright?"  
  
_"...i can accept that."  
  
'Shinji, your sync rate is 57%.'_  
  
A sigh. "Understood."  
  
_'Don't be sad about it, Shin-chan.'_  Asuka gave some words over the radio.  _'I'm sure once you get into the groove of things, that'll go back to normal.'_  
  
"...yeah. Just gotta get back in the groove."  
  
_'Okay guys, we're gonna get you started with something simple.'_  
  
A digital representation of the Angel Sachiel materialised, ELIZA excited shout of  _"ENEMY!"_  clearly audible over the line.  
  
_'Let’s keep this fight nice and clean to start with. Begin.'_  
  
The pilots were like horses out the gate, as they started what will be a long day of simulated battle.  
~~~

  
  
Matarael slinked across the simulated cityscape, stopping and dripping its acid at a specified point.  
  
This Angel had proven a tough one in the simulator. Because it fell so easily during the  _actual_  sortie, Ritsuko took the liberty of increasing its stats sevenfold, as well as giving it some fancy new powers, like acid  _guns_  that could melt through Old Type armour in 10 seconds. Rei's New-Type Eva; with all the supporting hardware for the AI, could resist this better. But the simulator had shown a few minor flaws with a New-Type model, especially as Ritsuko realised that this would be the first time NT-Unit-00 was in proper battle conditions.  
  
To emulate the battle conditions of the actual Matarael fight (and to test the pilots on their ability to improvise if certain core infrastructure was not available), they were only given  _one_  weapon of their choosing at the start; they could not change this out so as to simulate loss of power to the weapon lifts. The lack of power also bought about  _another_  handicap: the entire battle was to be done on battery (or S2) power.  
  
With current capacitor technology, an Old-Type Evangelion would be able to function for five minutes, less depending on how hard the pilot pushes things. A  _New-Type_  Evangelion, due to the additional hardware, would function for  _two_  minutes.  
  
Now, that wasn't a lot of time. But with how quick Evangelion battles move, it didn't matter  _too_  much, as Rei was still able to provide covering fire for a good 90 seconds, even tearing through a couple legs with her rifle when the AT-Field went down. Rei even had the courtesy to take cover away from the Angel before she ran out of juice, so as to not burden the others.  
  
Matarael wobbled, the goo making odd shapes in the ground, before steadying itself and continuing to burn through to the simulated Geofront.  
  
Shinji was able to continue providing fire from his pallet rifle, more as a distraction than to actually provide any damage at this stage. Asuka, with the higher sync rate and an S2, ducked and weaved through the rains, attempting to neutralise the AT-Field so that the  _other_  S2 capable Evangelion could make its play.  
  
A prompt indicated she had accomplished that feat. "Hikari, now!"  
  
From the top of a building, Hikari made her play with a quote: "Smile, you  _son of a bitch_!"  
  
The simulacrum Angel was suddenly brought to the ground by a firm boot, which was around the time Asuka began hacking away at the Angel, all too happily. The smattering of acid rain harmlessly bouncing off her S2 boosted AT-Field, they  _eventually_ defeated the Angel after toying around with it for  _far_  too long.  
  
Of course, saving the day required a city that  _wasn't_ currently  _melting into the large puddles of acid_.  
  
_'Congratulations Asuka. You saved the city.'_  The commander's deadpan could cut through a building like Matarael's acid, as the simulation dissipated back into the default grid of black and yellow.  _'Shinji, Asuka, Rei, you guys are on an hour break while the techies pool data and reset the system. Hikari, Kaworu will be taking over piloting, but you'll still need to stick around for the debrief once everyone else is done.'_  
  
A shrug as she said her goodbyes to her mother. "I'll fill in the time somehow."  
  
"Considering Toji's  _also_  here, you'll be filling  _something_."  
  
Hikari thought herself damn lucky she already shut down Unit-03 before her mother heard that, as she spluttered in embarrassment.  
~~~

  
  
Break came and went, and the pilots were back in their Evas. Well, most of them. Kaworu had swapped out, and the last time Hikari and Toji were caught on the security cameras, they were headed to the lockers. God knows what they were doing there.  
  
"We've got some initial data, Commander." Maya displayed it for all to see. "Shinji started off low, but once we got underway it slowly rose up to 68%. While that's still below his  _usual_  baseline, it's much better than it was during the sync test."  
  
"Which is good. Sounds like Yui and Shinji can continue working together."  
  
"They  _are_  mother and son. Any bad blood between the two would be quickly washed out." Ritsuko was busy typing. "Units 02 and 03 performed excellently, as usual. Asuka eventually topped out at 87.4%, and Hikari managed to  _just_  get an 81."  
  
"That's a new record for the both of them, isn't it?" Misato's surprise and elation was evident. "Do they know yet?"  
  
Shaking of the head. "We're gonna tell them after the second round. Rei did well as well, reaching a new personal best of 74.5% in NT-Unit-00, which also performed decently for a first sortie."  
  
"Does Unit-00 have any issues?"  
  
"Wouldn't be an Evangelion without." She snarked. "Some interface lag was reported by Rei, in addition to a few performance and agility issues. Nothing that requires immediate repairs though; we'll do it next maintenance cycle." A graph was pulled up on the screen. "One thing we didn't account for, however, was the battery."  
  
"Anything wrong with it?"  
  
"No, nothing  _wrong_. It’s more of a design issue." Internally, Ritsuko cursed herself for not accounting for such a problem. "We had assumed using the standard Evangelion capacitor design would work fine for the New-Type. What we  _didn't_  account for was the additional AI and computer hardware would have a higher power draw."  
  
"I  _did_  notice her Unit powered down  _far_  too early during the Matarael fight. How long does it usually last then?"  
  
"As you know, a standard Evangelion on capacitor charge can go for 5 minutes at most, before entering low power mode. The New-Type Evangelion has  _two_  minutes before low power."  
  
Misato gave a sharp inhale. "That's pretty bad. But then again, we mostly run on umbilical power anyway."  
  
"And Unit-00 is still quite an effective design. No point redesigning it to reduce battery load. Although..." A few files were bought up. "Melchior dug up something interesting related to capacitors."  
  
The files were perused. " _20 times better_?"  
  
Nodding. "Bit more expensive, but it's not out of the field of possibilities for capacitor designs, once we hammer out an assembly line for it. Only thing is, R&D have been swamped lately."  
  
"We have time. And we can always put the consumer oriented development on the back burner for a while."  
  
A grumble was Ritsuko's reply. "Oh yeah, Rei gave me an idea."  
  
A 3D model was displayed in wireframe.  
  
"...that Luna?"  
  
"Artemis. And no, it's not either of them. A character from Aida's show."  
  
"... _Kyubey_? They told me just how bad he was."  
  
"Still, fighting the same 12 enemies would get boring. And we don't know what the hell they might be facing, so the thinking is to give them an enemy they would have little idea about."  
  
A chuckle. "Makes sense. Is it ready?"  
  
"Yeah, I was planning on surprising them."  
  
The microphone was switched on. "Pilots ready?"  
  
_"Yes Commander!"_  
  
"Begin simulation."  
  
A pin could be heard in the simulator, as a gigantic simulacrum of Kyubey manifested itself.  
  
_'…How the fuck do we fight this?'_  
  
"See what it does and improvise." Was the commander's prompt response.  
  
Asuka didn't have a chance to respond, as Rei bodied the Kyubey and threw it into a fuel refinery, where it promptly exploded. Twice.  
  
"I didn't know Rei was Segata Sanshiro." Mused a bemused Maya.  
~~~

  
  
More fights came and went. A few Kyubeys, with tweaked stats as Ritsuko continued developing it as an enemy. A couple troops of MP-Evangelion. A few more Angels.  
  
Last fight of the day was Ramiel, a classic and formidable enemy that has yet to be defeated by something that  _wasn't_  a positron cannon or a Lance.  
  
Still, they persist. Because it's important to have numerous strategies to defeat your enemies.  
  
The thing with Ramiel was, even though its beam was completely devastating, it had a few flaws only noticed on further analysis. For one, the beam could only target one object at a time. This wasn't so bad, as Ramiel knew when the Evangelion would come out of the cage and could predict. For another, its beam had an approximately 12 second charge time, which gave the pilots 12 seconds to work with.  
  
Of course, once you get close enough to Ramiel, the mega laser was rendered moot, as it was not able to fire down. Ritsuko made a note to add some additional weaponry on the bottom, as the pilots really liked to camp down there.  
  
Even though they couldn't do much, since the AT-Field was still a thing.  
  
_'Subcommander, what are the chances you could send out an Evangelion sized pickaxe?'_  
  
"... _pickaxe_? Do you plan to  _mine_ Ramiel, Asuka?"  
  
_'Yeah; my thinking is if you can get through the AT-Field, which shouldn't be_ too _difficult with an S2 Engine, you can just chip away at it, and it won't be able to do anything about it.'_  
  
The doctor sounded impressed at this thought process. "I'll code a design based on the standard axe, and get it sent to Locker A in around ten minutes. And you do realise  _if_  this works, it won't work  _next_  time you face Ramiel."  
  
_'Yeah I know. And take your time, it's not like we're doing much right here.'_  She sounded somewhat annoyed. It's not like the drill could be shot through, even with Asuka and Kaworu using the S2 Engine to good use in diminishing Ramiel's immense field.  
  
"We really need a campfire or something. Make some smores or tell stories."  
  
_'Well, we can always do the 'tell stories' part.'  
  
'Any chance we could join?'_  
  
Geometric screaming and a laser beam answered Shinji.  _'I'm OK!'  
  
'I suggest we stay on flank, Shinji.'_

 

Ten minutes of stories later, the new pickaxe was sent to the locker, the location flashing on Asuka's HUD. "Okay guys, this is the plan. Rei and Shinji, you bait Ramiel into firing at you. This should give me a window to get my pickaxe. From there, Kaworu will neutralise Ramiel's field from the bottom. You two will keep it distracted as I come down on it like Hikari did with Matarael."  
  
_'You're going to_ mine _Ramiel.'_  Was Kaworu's flat response.  
  
"Hey, it's a new idea that doesn't involve a positron cannon or a Lance, and if it doesn't work we can always use those. On my mark."  
  
The chronometer counted to the top of the hour. "Mark."  
  
Shinji and Rei opened fire from the flanks, Ramiel firing a volley back. Asuka scrambled from the camping grounds to the locker.  
  
She barely had enough time to feel the weight of the pickaxe as she raced the beam. Now armed, Asuka bounded on the top of buildings, her quarry in her sights. Her Eva's internal clock began counting down from twelve.  
  
The beam charged, the ever growing glow visible from Asuka's view. "Come on Mama, just a bit more!" 8.  
  
_'DISENGAGE, ASUKA!'_  A firm Misato commanded. 4.  
  
The clock hit one, as Asuka took her leap. "Now Kaworu! Expand your AT-Field as much as you can! Neutralise that bastard!"  
  
The Angel fired, missing its quarry by a best a few feet. Asuka soared like an eagle piloting a blimp, easily bridging the gap.  
  
Two S2 capable Evangelions at full Field  _easily_  nullified even  _Ramiel's_  field. The pickaxe embedded itself into Ramiel, grinding a vertical trench into the crystalline body. When it finally got itself stuck, Asuka continued wielding her AT-Field, forcing her into Ramiel.  
  
Ramiel did not know how to respond to such an attack (more like Ritsuko never coded for such a possibility), and ceased outside attacks and drilling as it tried to determine a course of action.  
  
However it was obvious that the faculties of the Angel were beginning to diminish as more of it was chipped away, as Asuka continued for her trophy. "Keep your Field up, Kaworu!"  
  
He didn't even have to keep it powered as much, as Ramiel had noticeably started to list towards its starboard side, snapping its drill.  
  
_'I am surprised this is working as well as it is.'_ Admitted Rei, keeping flank in case Ramiel tried to pull something.  
  
_'It's a unique idea. But hey, that's what Asuka does best.'_  Shinji gave a smile as Ramiel gave a scream. Obviously Asuka had dug her way to the core.  
  
And just like that, Ramiel fell, the core shattering under Asuka's constant barrage. Much to the joy of the other pilots, and the impressed looks of the commanders.  
  
"Well. Didn't think _that_ would work." Maya thought out loud.  
  
"Makes sense though. The simulated Ramiel would've never adapted for that, and obviously _I_ didn't code a response for this."  
  
Unit-02 broke through the crystal, and gave a victorious cry.  _'God_ damn _it, I forgot to quip before I destroyed it!'_  
  
"That was very impressive guys." Misato gave in. "Though  _that_  was a pretty stupid risk, Asuka."  
  
A shrug from her camera, her visibly panting.  _'High risks, high rewards Commander.'_  
  
Eye roll in response. "Either way, we're done for tonight."  
~~~

  
  
Debrief was the same it usually was. The commanders were  _very_  impressed with how they finally cracked Ramiel without a Lance or a positron cannon, albeit in a somewhat unorthodox way. Though it’s not like this place was the pinnacle of orthodoxy anyway.  
  
There were  _some_  questions the pilots had over  _Kyubey_. But overall, her fellow pilots seemed to respond well to a new, somewhat unknown enemy. That would probably encourage Ritsuko to implement more, unique designs. Considering how varied their enemies can be.  
  
Speaking of Kyubey, there was still that show Rei watched with the pilots over the past few days. How alike some of their actions and reactions seemed.  
  
But, fretting about _that_ could be placed in the back of her mind for now. Half a day in combat simulations did numbers on her, and a shower only made her yearn for comfort. Specifically, the comfort of a warm bed and a warm soul to share it with.  
  
Though when she saw Kaworu cleaning the kitchen, she had a sly idea. "Kaworu?" Demure as ever, she called for him.  
  
"Yeah Re-"  
  
Rei could fell his emotions spike as he gave a glance towards his barely modest fiancée, her giving a small smile in reply. "I'll be waiting in bed for you."  
  
Kaworu was astounded at how completely  _non subtle_  she was.  
  
And how  _effective_  it was.  
~~~

  
  
_The river of time flowed.  
  
Kaworu was alone, other than the Rei that inhabited this strange realm, and the other denizens he could see of other, separate universes.  
  
Who he assumed was Akemi, she actually reacted when communication was attempted, if however fleeting. Of course, he couldn't assume that individual islands worked the same. Even from his limited perspective, he could tell each different island had their own rules and uses.   
  
Such as the boy and his flute. Or was it an ocarina?   
  
Such questions were for the philosophers.   
  
"It's certainly interesting."  
  
A new voice. He craned his head to see a girl, albino in pigment like him, but brown of hair. Like everyone else in this realm she had nothing, sitting down on the coast of this land._  
  
"What do you find interesting about this place?"  _Completely unfazed was he.  
  
"How these two always go down the same path, over and over again. I find it kinda sad, actually."  
  
He sat down next to this odd Nephilim, looking out into Akemi's realm._ "You must know the implication of such action. Don't you?"  
  
_A nod. "Yeah. This realm is odd, isn't it?"_  
  
"Our  _universe_  is odd, in comparison to many other places."  
  
_She chuckled. "That's very much true, Ash. Our existence is a testament to this oddity, is it not?"_  
  
"...So you are the same as me. Nephilim."  
  
_"As they call us. Progenitor life given Lilithian body."_  
  
"You must be from another timeline, then. There are only  _two_  Nephilim in my world, including me."  
  
_"In your_ world _, maybe."  
  
Realisation ran through Kaworu's mind_. "You mean Mars? And SEELE?"  
  
_Snapped fingers, and a chuckle. "Bingo, Ash. Now before you go and form any opinions on me, know that I think they're kinda assholes as well. Since you seem to know them."_  
  
"Yet you continue to work for them."  
  
_"Surely you would understand_ why _though." A tone shift. "I was once human, so I've been told. I was_ made _into this for their purposes. When I'm in the physical realm, I must do whatever they say and not do anything out of key, or they'll replace me."  
  
A jolt of empathy hit Kaworu. _"...I can understand that."  
  
_A shrug, as she inspected a loose stone. "That's good, Ash. It's not so great, but hey. Sometimes life just does that."_  
  
"…Very much true."  _Thinking._  "I would think you would want to return to Earth someday."  
  
_"Yeah." She threw the stone into the metaphorical ocean. "I have_ something _there. I don't know what. But I'll figure it out."_  
  
"...I fear we may be on the opposing sides of the battlefield, then."  
  
_"Shame, init? I kinda like ya, Ash." Sniffing, followed by a tapping on his chest. "Though you have someone waiting for you, back in the physical world, don't ya?"_  
  
"...you can tell connections like us, too?"  
  
_Nodding. "You smell of berries and roses. She's important to you, isn't she?"  
  
A smile, as he kept his glance._ "You could say that."  
  
_"...I wonder if one day I could experience something like that. I kinda doubt it, in this state."_  
  
"You never know. I believed myself I would be fated to a life of loneliness."  
  
_"And yet here you stand."_  
  
"And yet here I stand."  
  
_They looked out over the horizon. "Tell me, Ash. What's your name?"_  
  
"... _They_ dubbed me  _Tabris_. But I have rejected that name. Nagisa. Yours?"  
  
_She was quiet, prompting Kaworu to look on at Akemi's realm. As they witnessed a change. Purple light, and sudden shifts in its structure_.  _Shifts between the blackest of blacks and the lightest of lights.  
  
It finally settled. Akemi would not walk that road anymore, if Kaworu's thinking was correct.  
  
"...Azrael. That's the only name I know. The name they gave me." She seemed wistful._  
  
"...The shift in that realm means something, doesn't it?"  
  
_Quiet. "When starboard time change, and the martyr's meteor fall." A teaching.  
  
Azrael got up from her perch, looking on at a fellow Nephilim with a smile. "Watch the skies, Ash."  
  
Kaworu was left alone on the shore._  
  
'What a foreboding name.'  _He thought, somewhat bemused at this whole exchange_.  
  
_He would do well to remember._  
~~~

  
  
The wistful Commander, now just Misato, looked out over her balcony, beer in hand, bird stationed by her side.  
  
She knows how Kaji's job was like, so she should've expected something like this to happen. Still, he knows well how she relies too much emotionally on him. But it’s not like she could help it. Losing her father like that. Her mother perishing soon after. Her college years and falling out with Kaji for stupid reasons. This whole Angel and SEELE war.  
  
She sighed. "God damn it. Why am I like this." A question to the air and the penguin.  
  
Which was met by warm hands wrapping around her waist. "I think you're fine the way you are, Misato."  
  
The initial shock resulted in a dropped beer, but that didn't matter. Shifting her weight back to make herself sure, she wrapped her now free hands around his arms. "...This is just like you, y'know."  
  
A head on her shoulder looked at her questioningly. "Get you wistful enough so me finally getting back hits you harder?"  
  
"More like you not telling us you're here." A playful chide, through a stray tear. "...I missed you, Ryoji."  
  
"I know." A sudden kiss, which Misato melted into.  
  
Pen-Pen simply gave a happy wark, as he looked back to the skies.

* * *

 


End file.
